Shillong, Jan 8: The under construction India’s longest river bridge connecting Phulbari in Garo Hills and Dhubri in Assam will be a game changer for the people of North East, said Phulbari legislator Abu Taher Mondal on Wednesday.
The 19.3-km-long four-lane Dhubri-Phulbari bridge over Brahmaputra will connect the two commercially significant places, which are now 205-km apart if one travels by road.
The bridge will have 199 pillars of which around 35 pillars have been built and slabs laid over them on the Assam side, the local MLA and cabinet minister said quoting on-site officials who he had met during his recent visit to the bridge.
However, he lamented that the construction was a little slower on the Meghalaya side. “The work on Phulbari side started a year after the Dhubri side,” he informed.
“Officials told me that they are on time as far as the completion of the work is concerned, if there are no untoward incidents,” Mondal said.
The mega project worth nearly ₹5000 crore is scheduled for completion in 2028.
Lauding chief minister Conrad Sangma’s support to the cause, he said, “Our CM always advocated for this bridge from the beginning.”
After completion, most traffic from Phulbari and surrounding region in Garo Hills will take the bridge to reach Guwahati as the distance will be much shorter, he said.
The bridge will also have huge economic impact and accelerate development in the region, he said.
Moreover the bridge will facilitate connectivity to the rest of the country, he added.
