All NE states to be connected to Delhi by long-distance trains: MoS Railways SC Angadi

Dibrugarh: Union minister of state for Railways Suresh Channabasappa Angadi on Friday said that all the eight states of the North East will be connected to national capital Delhi by long-distance trains. The union minister announced this while visiting the Bogibeel bridge on his way to Arunachal Pradesh's capital Itanagar to attend a programme. The minister spent nearly 2 hours at the Bogibeel bridge site on the south bank and was briefed by senior officials of the NF Railway. Later he also undertook a boat safari to watch the splendour of the country's longest rail-cum-road bridge from the Brahmaputra.

"Our honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi takes special care for North East. It was under his direction that today I have come to visit the North East. I have seen the magnificence of the Bogibeel bridge. The day before yesterday I visited a beautiful bridge at Kashi which was built by the British in 1911. But Bogibeel bridge is far eye-catching than the Kashi bridge. I congratulate the engineers and the 3,000 workmen who toiled day and night to construct the magnificent bridge. I'm feeling proud to set foot on this bridge which was started by honourable Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Angadi said.

The Union Minister further said that the Railway ministry was committed to finishing all pending railway projects of the North East by 2022.

"We are going to connect the eight sisters of the North East to capital Delhi by long-distance trains. By 2022 every single railway projects of the North East will be finished," the minister added.

On December 25, 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had dedicated the 4.94-km long Bogibeel bridge to the nation thereby ushering in a new era in road and rail connectivity in the region.

Situated 17-km downstream of Dibrugarh town, the Bogibeel bridge spanning is the fourth bridge over the Brahmaputra and connects Dibrugarh and Dhemaji districts. The foundation stone of the bridge was laid almost 21 years ago by ex-PM HD Deve Gowda on January 22, 1997, before the construction work was kickstarted by Atal Bihari Vajpayee on April 21, 2002. Due to multiple delays over the years, the cost of the Bogibeel project shot up from Rs 1,767 crore to Rs 5,800 crore. Owing to its sluggish pace, the multi-crore project had earned the unflattering tag of the slowest moving infrastructure project of the northeast.

Described as an engineering marvel, a record 70,000 MT of steel was used in the Bogibeel bridge which is said to be equivalent to 10 numbers of Eiffel Towers. The total length of welding carried out is approximately 12,800 km which is equivalent to circling 1.5 times around the moon. The bridge is set up 32 metres above the bed level of the Brahmaputra.

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