ChapterIII(a) - Pollution Control Board, Assam

EIA Report Proposed INDAdept G Project – Guwahati Refinery Chapter 3Nehru Urban Renewal Mission)- the Government of India's recently conceived mission forurban development. A city development plan has been recently finalized for the city.Utility and transport infrastructureThe city suffers from lack of utility infrastructure. Existing water supply system isinadequate. It mostly is dependent on ground water resources (higher water level). It also doesnot have a comprehensive underground sewerage system. Septic tanks at individual housesare popular. The storm drainage system is comparatively good, although many areasexperience water logging due to heavy rainfall in the monsoon. Extensive soil erosion fromthe hillocks and clogging of the drainage system is frequent and expensive for the city. Solidwaste is being managed by the local authority with private partners. It lacks modernequipment, methods and practices.Lack of sufficient road space is also a major problem. The length of surfaced road withinthe city is presently 218 km (ARSAC). The major corridor roads suffer from insufficient rightof way, illegal construction and improper planning and design. The roads in the residentialneighborhoods are extremely narrow (lack of proper regulations) causing problems related toboth traffic and infrastructure installations. Cul-de-sacs are neither planned nor designedproperly.Guwahati has a good public transport system. A government agency - ASTC (Assam StateTransport Corporation) and many private operators provide a considerably good city-bussystem. It requires further modernization and integration with city planning and managementinitiatives. Besides these, Guwahati is the first city in northeast where low floored buses wereintroduced.Guwahati's airport, known as Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, issituated in Borjhar about 20 km west of the city. Air connectivity has improved considerablyin the last couple of years and all major domestic airlines fly into Guwahati. Guwahati airportaverages about 20 arrivals and departures a day.Guwahati has three railway stations serving it. Its major station is Guwahati Junction.Two minor stations are at Kamakhya and New Guwahati located towards west and eastrespectively. Major trains serving Guwahati are Guwahati Rajdhani Express, SaraighatExpress, North-East Express, Guwahati-Jorhat Town Jan Shatabdi Express.Educational and health infrastructureThe city has Gauhati University in Jalukbari. The century old Cotton College is one of themost reputed colleges in eastern India and possesses great scholastic and cultural values. TheIndian Institute of Technology Guwahati is the recent addition to the high-profile world'srenowned IITs in India. Within a very short period of time, Guwahati IIT is proving itself asan excellent institution for research and education and its ranking among the IITs in India isincreasing every year.The Assam Engineering College and the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital are thetwo important institutions for science and technology and medical education. Among thecity's many other institutions of higher learning, Gauhati Commerce College, College ofVeterinary Science, Government Ayurvedic College, Arya Vidyapeeth College, B. BorooahCollege, Handique Girls College, Assam Engineering Institute (engineering diploma courses),Pandu College, LCB College, West Guwahati Commerce College, etc. are well known.The city is an important center for health facilities in eastern India. Many government andprivate specialty hospitals are available. The most important are the Guwahati MedicalCollege and Hospital, Guwahati Neurological Research Centre (GNRC), Down Town28