Bogibeel Bridge having Significance for India’s Defence Dedicated to the Nation

Bogibeel, India’s Longest Rail-Road Bridge, which spans the River Brahmaputra between Dibrugarh and Dhemaji districts of Assam and is of immense economic and strategic significance for the nation was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 December 2018, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister, Bharat Ratna Late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and is also celebrated as “Sushaasan Divas” or “Good Governance Day”. Prime Minister Modi also flagged off the first passenger train – Tinsukia-Naharlagun Intercity Express – passing through the bridge, at a massive public meeting in Kareng Chapori, on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra. The strategically important bridge over the mighty Brahmaputra will remove communication bottlenecks to several districts as it aids connectivity between the north and south banks of the Brahmputra in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

• Bogibeel Bridge is also Asia’s Second Longest Railroad Connector.
• It has a lifespan of around 120 years.
• This double-decker bridge over the mighty Brahmaputra, from the southern bank of the river, at Bogibeel near Dibrugarh in Assam has a two-line railway track on the lower Deck and a three-lane road on the top Deck.
• Bogibeel Bridge is 4.94-km-long that took ₹5,920 crore to build.
• Bogibeel Bridge’s significance is that it aids connectivity between the north and south banks of the Brahmputra in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Residents of remote districts of Anjaw, Changlang, Lohit, Lower Dibang Valley, Dibang Valley and Tirap in Arunachal Pradesh besides Dibrugarh and Dhemaji districts in Assam will be benefitted from the Bridge.
• It will also reduce Delhi to Dibrugarh train travel time by about three hours from the present 37 hours
• Bogibeel Bridge was first demanded by a citizen’s forum in eastern Assam’s Dibrugarh by submitting a memorandum to the then Prime Minister Morarji Desai in June 1977.
• It was a part of the Assam Accord that foundation stone of the project was laid by former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda on 22 January 1997, while work began on 21 April 2002 under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government.
• Bogibeel is India’s only fully-welded bridge for which European codes and welding standards were adhered to for the first time in the country.
• A fully welded bridge has a low maintenance cost

Bogibeel Bridge has tremendous significance for India’s defence and has been built strong enough to support the movement of tanks and even fighter jet landings and is likely to play an important role in defence movement along the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh due its proximity to the China border. The three road lanes of the bridge can act as three landing strips for the Air Force.