The Bridge Of New Beginnings

We explore how the Bogibeel bridge is much more than just a way to travel from Dhemaji to Dibrugarh faster.

- Manjum Mahanta

A full-sized elephant crossing the river while balancing on two ferry boats, sounds like a scene out of a James Bond movie. But what seems like fiction was all in a day’s work for the experienced boatmen serving in the ghats of Bogibeel. For years, people, and apparently elephants, travelled between Dhemaji and Dibrugarh via ferry boats. And while it was the most effective way to travel between the two districts back then, it wasn’t always the most convenient, and at times, life threatening, which is why the inauguration of the Bogibeel bridge was welcomed by masses on both sides of the river. We uncover more about the bridge and how life has changed for residents on both sides since its inauguration.

Years in the Making

The bridge is an example of massive engineering excellence and a sign of infrastructural development in the Northeast. It was former Prime Minister HD Deva Gowda, who laid the foundation stone for the bridge back in January 1997, the then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee inaugurated the construction in April 2002. However, actual work on the bridge began in 2011. After 16 years and having missed several deadlines, the delay resulted in the project’s cost increasing from the initial estimate of 1,767 crore to 4,996 crore approximately.

One of the major challenges in the construction was finding the right manpower. In an interview, R.V.R Kishore, project director for HCC (Hindustan Construction Company) had revealed, ‘Getting the required manpower to work on this project in this part of the country, that too ensuring they were technically qualified was a task.’ Eventually, they managed to mobilise 120 engineers and 300 welders from different parts of India.