Today, India’s longest Dhola-Sadiya bridge on the Brahmaputra at Sadiya of 9.15km has been inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Apart from this, PM Modi also inaugurated a slew of projects in Assam. Narendra Modi addressed a rally in Guwahati. After leading Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to a resounding victory in the Lok Sabha Elections of 2014, he was sworn-in as the prime minister on 26th May 2014. The central govt. is banking big on the Dhola-Sadiya bridge to improve the road connectivity in the North-East zone.
The said Bridge is built over the Lohit River, which is a tributary of the Brahmaputra River. It links Dhola in Assam state to Sadiya in Arunachal Pradesh. The connectivity through this bridge will reduce travel time between these two states by as much as 4-5 hours.
Incidentally, Friday has marked the third anniversary of the Modi government and comes only 2 days after the Assam government of Sarbananda Sonowal completed a year in the office. On Wednesday Sonowal invited Narendra Modi to inaugurate this longest bridge of Dhola-Sadiya. The bridge will be the fourth bridge over Brahmaputra river after Saraighat bridge, Kolia Bhomora bridge, and Bogibeel bridge.
Ministry of Road Transport said, “The Dhola-Sadiya bridge will fill a gap of connectivity that has existed in the region”. The bridge is built at a cost of Rs 2,096 crores. The construction of the bridge began in 2010. At that time there was a Congress government at the Centre as well as in Assam. However, the groundwork for the project started in early 2002, under the Vajpayee BJP government.
The project has been constructed as a public-private partnership between the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and a Vishakapatnam-based private company, Navayuga Engineering Company. The total length of the bridge is 9.15km which is 3.55 km longer than Mumbai’s Bandra-Worli Sea Link.
Today in the evening Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Ye desh aur deshwaasi har kadam par humare saath diya hain, kade se kade faisle humne liye, aur deshwasiyon ne vishwas ko aur bhi mazboot banaya”. Means- People of India always supported him even in the path of the strong decision also. That is why the Prime Minister is ready to pay any cost for the sake of well-being and countrymen. According to him, “The said bridge will not only save money, reduce travel time but it will act as a foundation for the beginning of an economic revolution. And that’s why the whole nation has its eyes on the bridge”.
On the other hand, Congress leaders are trying to get the credit for the construction of the bridge. According to former chief minister Tarun Gogoi, it has been started at his time but he is not being allowed to go to the site.
“They did not allow me to go to the site saying that it is because of security concerns. Am I a terrorist? Shall I break the laws and orders? Why are they not allowing me to visit the bridge?”.
