With commencing of the bridge the road distance from Dibrugarh, in Assam to Itanagar will be reduced by 150 km and the railway travel distance between these two points will be reduced by 705 km

Guwahati: Prime minister, Narendra Modi will inaugurate India’s longest road-cum-rail bridge Bogibeel Bridge in Upper Assam’s Dibrugarh on December 25.

Massive security arrangement is made in the area. Already team from SPG are camping in the area. Railways will run four trains to ferry people who are willing to witness the inauguration event.

Bogibeel Rail-cum-Road Bridge over river Brahmaputra is situated 17 Km downstream of Dibrugarh city in Assam. Constructed for Double Line Broad Gauge Track and three lane road, this bridge will be the lifeline of Northeastern part of the country and will facilitate connectivity between North and South Banks of river Brahmaputra in the Eastern region of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

According to Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) the Bridge will also enhance the national security of the eastern region of India by facilitating swift movement of defence forces and their equipment.

Government of India has given utmost importance to this Bridge Project by declaring it a National Project in the year 2007 thereby assuring availability of fund for speedy construction.

Bogibeel Bridge Project was a part of Assam Accord 1985 and was sanctioned in the year 1997-98. The foundation stone of the Project was laid by Prime Minister of India, H D Deve Gowda on January 22, 1997 and work commencement of the Project work was done by Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee on April 21, 2002. The bridge has a total length of 4.94 km (revised from 4.31 km).

The sanctioned estimated cost of the Project was Rs. 3230.02 Crores. Revised estimate of the project amounts to Rs. 4,857 Crores which has been approved and sanctioned by the Railway Board to cover escalation and increased bridge length.

The remote districts of Anjaw, Changlang, Lohit, Lower Dibang Valley, Dibang Valley and Tirap of Arunachal Pradesh will be greatly benefited by this bridge. “Almost 75 percent of the 4000-km long border that India share with China is in Arunachal Pradesh and the bridge will help in logistical support for Indian Army manning this border”, NFR stated.

With commencing of the bridge the road distance from Dibrugarh, in Assam to Itanagar will be reduced by 150 km and the railway travel distance between these two points will be reduced by 705 km.

Several organisations have put forward their suggestions on the naming of the bridge; a section of BJP leaders wants the bridge to be named after Prime Minister Vajpayee.