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)