Guwahati: Old Saraighat Bridge Closed For The Next Two Days For Repair Works

GUWAHATI: The old Saraighat bridge connecting the north and south banks of Guwahati has been temporarily closed for maintenance work.

It means that people will not be able to travel through the bridge and they would be compelled to look for an alternative route.

A long traffic jam was reported in the area on Saturday after the Saraighat bridge was closed down.

According to sources, the rail-cum-road bridge will not be available for the public for the next two days as a result of ongoing maintenance works initiated to fix large cracks that had surfaced on the old Saraighat bridge.

The necessary repair works on the bridge has been undertaken by the railway department, issuing directives to restrict traffic movement in the Saraighat bridge. This disruption has caused a lot of difficulties for daily commuters today.

Vehicular movements were brought to a standstill as long queues of vehicles were seen on both ends of the bridge at Jalukbari and Amingaon.

Reports revealed that the Saraighat bridge was closed from 11 am today. Those involved in the maintenance work have been instructed to the adhere to the stipulated time period of two days.

This directive has been put in place to re-open the bridge within the deadline and ease the trouble faced by the commuters.

Meanwhile, all the traffic has been diverted to the new Saraighat bridge running adjacent to the old one. The arrangement will continue for the next two days till the repair works is completed.

Notably, the idea of building a bridge over the Brahmaputra River initially came up in 1910 and gained traction during the Second World War.

However, during the initial days, serious concerns were raised regarding the stability of the railway line between Bongaigaon and Amingaon following severe floods in 1942–43.

Once the railway line was stabilized, Railway Minister Nitish Lagachu and Public Health Director Ranjan Malakar officially announced the decision of constructing the bridge during the Budget session of Parliament in 1958.

The Saraighat bridge was constructed by Hindustan Construction Company between 1959 and 1962 at a cost of Rs 10.6 crore at the time. The bridge was completed in September 1962 and the first train crossed on 23 September 1962.

This critical infrastructure serves as a crucial link connecting Northeast India with the rest of the country.

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