Wednesday, June 14, 2023

UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL OF ACT EAST POLICY

Connectivity in India’s North-East Region

India’s North East Region has been branded as a paradise unexplored. The biggest challenge for the exploration of this paradise has been infrastructure and connectivity – be it for tourism or for the industry.  The strategic infrastructure development in North East has gained momentum in recent years.

Dhola-Sadiya Bridge or Bhupen Hazarika Setu

The Dhola-Sadiya Bridge or Bhupen Hazarika Setu, spanning 9.15 km over the Brahmaputra River, was opened on May 26, 2017, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is the longest bridge in India and positions Assam as a hub for trade and connectivity with South East Asia. The bridge aims to boost connectivity, trade, and development in the North Eastern region.


Bogibeel Bridge

The Bogibeel Bridge, spanning 4.98 km, was inaugurated on December 25, 2018, by Prime Minister Modi. It is the longest road and rail bridge in India and the second-longest in Asia. The bridge enhances connectivity between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, connecting Dibrugarh and Silapathar.

The following map is a bird’s eye view of Brahmaputra Valley. On both sides of the river lies Assam state, and further to the northeast lies Arunachal Pradesh. The Brahmaputra has a very large river basin making it almost impossible to transport heavy loads across the river.

The points marked A (Goalpara), B (Guwahati), C (Tezpur), D (Dibrugarh), and E (Chapakhowa) are the points from which the river can be crossed using a permanent bridge.

It is only after 2014, that the bridges in points D and E have been made functional with the inauguration of the Bogibeel Bridge in Dibrugarh in 2018 and Bhupen Hazarika Bridge (Dhola-Sadiya Bridge) in Chapakhowa in 2017. Both are one of the longest bridges in the country.



The following is an illustration of what difference the bridges made in the life and livelihood of the people in the valley and also its strategic importance for the development of Arunachal Pradesh in general.

Itanagar to Dibrugarh

As per Google Maps, earlier it took almost 11 hours for a person to travel from Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh to Dibrugarh, a big city in upper Assam that has an airport, railway connectivity and a university. This is because the traveller had to take a detour via Tezpur to reach from one place to another.

 


Today, the same distance can be covered easily in less than 5 hours via the newly built Bogibeel Bridge in Dibrugarh. The 450 KM journey has become a mere 187 KM long route now.

 


Roing to Tinsukia

Roing is one of the first towns in India situated in the Dibang Valley, Arunachal Pradesh. It has always been very remote. Before the inauguration of Bhupen Hazarika Setu in 2017, it took a person 18 hours to travel 800+ KM to reach Tinsukia, a small town in Assam.  



Today the same distance can be covered only in 2 hours reducing the distance to only 112 KM across the Brahmaputra.


 

Impact of the bridges

These bridges not only give impetus to the region but are also strategically important from the security perspective of India’s borderlands.

They are stimulating economic development in isolated districts of Assam—Dhemaji and Lakhimpur. The bridges are expected to benefit approximately 5 million people in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, particularly in the trade, agriculture, and tourism sectors.

They will also facilitate Assam's connectivity with China through Arunachal Pradesh.

(This post was first published on tripurainfo.com)