Bogibeel: from ‘small’ to big-The bridge across Brahmaputra, opening today, was first demanded in 1977

• India’s longest rail-road bridge that took Rs.5,920 crore to build was born “small” on paper – a scribbled note in Parliament after a dramatic display of anger – 22 years ago.
• The 4.94 km Bogibeel, the fourth bridge across river Brahmaputra to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was one of eight spans pursued in 1973 to ease the pressure on the 4,258-ft Saraighat Bridge on the western edge of Guwahati.
• Until the Saraighat was built in 1962, the Brahmaputra was the only river in India that had not been bridged along its entire length from delta to foothills either for road or railway.
• Bogibeel was accommodated in the Prime Minister’s special package and Mr. Deve Gowda laid its foundation stone at Dhemaji on January 22, 1997.
• Work, though, started after another round of initiation ceremony by his successor Atal Bihari Vajpayee in April 2002.
• But the bridge missed several deadlines. Its project’s cost hence shot from Rs.1,767 crore to Rs.5,920 crore.

The Hindu