Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated and dedicated to the nation the Dhola-Sadiya bridge, the longest river Bridge in india even as he named the bridge after late Bhupen Hazarika.
The bridge built at a cost of over Rs2,000 crore, not only reduces travel time between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh but also makes military supply easier to India’s eastern border with China in the hill State.
Built on 182 pillars and resembling ‘S’, the bridge is strong enough to resist earthquakes and facilitate movement of tanks weighing up to 60 ton.
The Prime Minister also took a walk on the magnificent bridge after inauguration by cutting the ceremonial red ribbon and drove for about two kms in his cavalcade towards Sadiya before returning to Dhola to address a huge gathering.
“Our Government has decided to name the bridge after a son of the soil, who is the son of Brahmaputra, a worshipper of the Brahmaputra. He is late Dr Bhupen Hazarika. Bhupen Hazarika lived for Brahmaputra, immortalised it and took the Brahmaputra river to the world stage through his songs and music,” said the Prime Minister while addressing the gathering.
Modi congratulated the people of Assam in particular and North East in general, as he said that the new bridge would script a new era of development.
“A balanced growth of physical and social infrastructural development has been one of the commitments of the NDA Government,” he said adding that he is happy that he could dedicated the longest bridge to the nation synchronising with the three-year completion of the Centre and one year completion of the State Government.
He also said that the Dhola-Sadiya Bridge would also open up new vista for economic development of Assam and North East as a whole.
The Prime Minister also said that with the inauguration of the bridge, farmers of the region can send their produce including the famous ginger to other parts of the country and outside which would also propel their economic development.
Referring to former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpyee’s vision for this bridge Modi said that based on Jagadish Bhuyan’s letter to the former Prime Minister, he directed to prepare a feasibility report. He said that if Vajapyee retained power in 2004, this bridge would have been completed 10 years ago.
Modi also highlighted the development initiative by the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre for the northeastern region and said that the development of this region will ensure development of the entire country through the South East Asia.
“If we can develop the infrastructure in northeast under the Act East policy, it will play a major role in strengthening the position of India in the entire South East Asia,” he said.
He also said that with the inauguration of the bridge, journey time between Dhola and Sadiya would come down to bare 30 minutes instead of 4.30 hours.