Guwahati: The upper deck roadway of the old Saraighat rail-cum-road bridge will remain closed to vehicular traffic for two months from July 13 to allow Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) to carry out major repair work.Kamrup (Metro) district commissioner Swapneel Paul said on Tuesday that NFR had informed the district administration that the bridge, opened in 1963, had developed structural issues requiring immediate repairs.“No vehicles will be allowed to use the bridge during this period. Traffic in both directions will be diverted to the adjacent new bridge,” Paul said.However, heavy vehicles will not be allowed to use the adjacent bridge during the two-month closure.Guwahati senior superintendent of police Subhashish Baruah said trucks coming from lower Assam would be stopped at Baihata Chariali. Heavy vehicles heading towards upper Assam will be diverted through the Kolia Bhomora Bridge in Tezpur, while those travelling from upper Assam towards lower Assam will also be routed via Tezpur.Deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Jayanta Sarathi Borah urged motorists not to overtake on the bridge to avoid accidents. He said traffic police were considering deploying recovery vans on the bridge to quickly remove vehicles in case of breakdowns.Borah said commuters entering Guwahati from the north bank could use Kumar Bhaskar Varma Setu to reduce pressure on the bridge adjacent to Saraighat. Additional traffic personnel will be deployed on the stretch between Kumar Bhaskar Varma Setu and Sukreswar to prevent congestion.Authorities said parking will be prohibited on the stretch between Dr Bhupen Hazarika Samadhi Kshetra and Saraighat bridge during the period.
