Prime minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Kumar Bhaskar Varma Setu bridge in Guwahati, built at a cost of around Rs 3,030 crore.
The six-lane extradosed Prestressed Concrete (PSC) bridge will connect Guwahati with North Guwahati and is the first extradosed bridge in the Northeast.
The bridge shortens the usual 45–60 min journey between Guwahati and North Guwahati to just around 7–10 minutes. Presently, only the Saraighat Bridge in Jalukbari area connects the two banks of the Brahmaputra
The length of the bridge is 7.75 km, including approach roads and flyovers on both sides of the Brahmaputra, while the actual bridge over the river is 1.24 km long.
The bridge’s name honours Kumar Bhaskar Varma, a celebrated ancient ruler of the Kamrupa Kingdom whose reign (around 594–650 CE) is often regarded as a golden era in Assam’s history.