About Bogibeel Bridge
- The Bogibeel double-deck bridge is a rail-road bridge across Brahmaputra River connecting Dibrugarh in Assam and Dehmaji in Assam.
- The 4.94 km long bridge is the longest rail-road bridge in India.
- The longest road bridge on Brahmaputra is the 9.15 km Dhola-Sadiya Bridge.
- The double-deck bridge will have a three-lane road in the upper deck and a 74 km two-line railway track in the lower deck.
- The 3-lane road will be connected to the NH37 on the south bank of the Brahmaputra and to the NH52 on the north bank.
- Further Bogibeel rail-road bridge is the fourth being built on Brahmaputra, the other three being :
- Pandu Saraighat
- Kolia-Bjumuraguri
- Naranarayan Setu at Jogighopa
Significance
- Boost to development of North-eastern region
- The Bridge will provide rail and road connectivity between the lesser developed districts of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
- It will provide direct access to the districts of Upper Assam from the rest of the country through the North bank.
- Connectivity to Arunachal Pradesh will give a fillip to the tourist industry.
- Connectivity to Arunachal Pradesh
- Currently a cargo from Dibrugarh in the north-eastern corner of Assam takes over a 600 km detour merely to cross the Brahmaputra via Guwahati.
- With this bridge, the journey will be less than 100 km.
- Besides this will solve the problems associated with ferry services namely
- Ferry services are often disrupted during monsoon between May-October.
- Further ferry services are not suitable for heavy cargo
- Strategic significance
- The project will give a major boost to defence logistics along the border with China.
- India and China share a nearly 4,000 km border and a considerable portion of the border lies in Arunachal Pradesh.
- It will solve the logistical issues face by the armed forces stationed at the China border to get supplies from Tezpur.
- Besides the bridge will also ramp up the movement of troops of armed forces in Arunachal Pradesh cutting down the distance to the border with China by 10 hours.
- Other important projects to boost logistics along the border in Arunachal Pradesh include:
- Trans-Arunachal highway on the north bank of the Brahmaputra
- Road and rail links over the Brahmaputra and its major tributaries such as the Dibang, Lohit, Subansiri and Kameng.
Section : Miscellaneous
