Assam's Bogibeel Bridge, a 4.94-km-long behemoth straddling the Brahmaputra, is a "lifeline" for the state's denizens, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after inaugurating it on December 25.
India's second-longest rail-road bridge will cut travel time, remove communication bottlenecks to a number of districts in neighboring Arunachal Pradesh, and is likely to play an important role in defense movement along the Indo-China border -- also in Arunachal Pradesh.
Here's a cheat-sheet on what makes the Bogibeel Bridge, which connects Dibrugarh and Dhemaji districts, so special.
1. National security
The Bogibeel Bridge will help defense forces and their equipment move quickly said one source, who explained that it was built in a way that "even a fighter jet can land on it in case of emergency". Earlier, a senior army official said traveling to the farthest point of the India-China border would be shortened "by several hundred kilometers". The bridge will provide logistical support for the Indian Army manning the border, said Pranav Jyoti Sharma, chief public relations officer for the Northeast Frontier Railway.
2. Travel and access to facilities
Train trips from Tinsukia in Assam to Naharlagun in Arunachal Pradesh just got a whole lot quicker. By ten hours, to be precise. Pranav Jyoti Sharma said the rail travel distance between Dibrugarh and Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh, would be reduced by 705 km. Taking your car instead? Your Dibrugarh-Itanagar road trip is now 150 km shorter.
The Bogibeel Bridge's opening is great news if you're from Dhemaji -- for Dibrugarh, the third-largest city in the Northeast, has major hospitals, medical colleges, and an airport.
3. The big picture
The Bogibeel Bridge is part of infrastructure projects planned to improve logistics along the border in Arunachal Pradesh. This includes the construction of a trans-Arunachal highway on the Brahmaputra's north bank, and new road and rail links over the river and its major tributaries.
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