Bogibeel Opens a Bridge of Opportunities for North Bank

Rizwana Ahmed

(The writer is a Research Scholar from Lakhimpur, She can be reached at riza.pinky@gmail.com)

With the inauguration of India’s longest rail-cum-road bridge on 25th of December, 2018, there will be a new array of opportunities for the entire north bank of the Brahmaputra and Arunachal Pradesh which is virtually bared of any industrialization or development. The enhanced rail and road connectivity which the bridge provides to almost five million people of not only Dhemaji, Lakhimpur on the north bank and Dibrugarh, Tinsukia on the south bank, but also being merely 20 km away from Arunachal and Assam border it drastically improves connectivity of eastern Arunachal Pradesh from Nua-Dihing valley to Siang and Upper and Lower Subansiri valley. This bears special strategic importance to Indian Army, from mobilizing troops to providing logistical support to man the India-China border. More importantly the bridge is expected to bear special economic importance to the generally isolated region. After the operationalization of Bogibeel Bridge the enhanced connectivity is expected to give rise to socio-economic activities in the region.

The journey to Arunachal Pradesh is compressed by almost 80%, especially the train journey from Dibrugarh to Arunachal is cut by almost 10 hours. The tourism sector is expected to gain from this smoother connectivity. Arunachal Pradesh has a wide scope in the tourism sector. People are getting excited in exploring the exotic and untouched beautiful locations of Eastern Arunachal like Pasighat or Mechuka, Roing, Miodia Dambuk etc. Events like the orange festival, the zero music festival are capturing the imagination of national and international travelers. Thus, improved connectivity can make the region a top travel destination and when tourism-related industries develop in the area the otherwise highly unemployed youth can find opportunities of employment in service sectors like travel and hospitality.

A study conducted in Gujarat earlier interestingly revealed that industrialization in Gujarat has happened around areas that are already industrialized and areas which are geographically isolated with inefficient infrastructure, especially lacking in railway connectivity. This seems to be apt for the north bank districts of the Brahmaputra valley and eastern Arunachal Pradesh. For example, even though the traditional yarns like muga, pat, eri are of Dhemaji and Lakhimpur districts and other handloom products of the tribes of the area are widely appreciated all over the state.

However, this area has failed to become an industrial hub like Sualkuchi, but with new connectivity and wider market accessibility there is a scope of attracting more capital to this industry and bringing a revolution that is long overdue. The main industries of Assam that add maximum value addition are OIL, natural gas, mining of coal and limestone and tea and all these industries are situated on the south bank, so the industrialization stayed concentrated in and around the area and Arunachal and north bank districts failed to attract investments despite the scope in another major industry, the food production sector which accounts for a bulk of industrialization in the State. With the Bogibeel cutting the route between two banks from around 12 hours to around two hours now the industrialization is expected to grow and more investment are expected to flow into the food sector. Brands like Patanjali have already started to invest in the food sector hoping to profit from Arunachal’s exotic fruit growers and medicinal herbs.

Enhanced economic activities in Arunachal Pradesh can also help the generally undeveloped and flood-hit districts of north bank in Assam with more business activities and employment opportunities in service sectors like hospitality, food processing, agriculture etc. But all these economic impacts will take time to culminate and it will be longer till we have real solid data to assess and quantify any economic impact brought by the Bogibeel itself, but the expectation and excitement of the area are palpable and may be seen in the tourists who have traveled just to see the bridge after its opening. The immediate advantage of the bridge would be the shorter travel time to Dibrugarh for the patients of superspecialty medical emergencies as well as students who wish to benefit from studying not just in Dibrugarh University but also in medical, engineering, polytechnic etc institutes situated in the south bank. However, that will put an extra load on the already under developed infrastructure and other facilities. The road traffic in the Dibrugarh area has already increased causing traffic jams not only in the connecting roads to the bridge but also in the town areas. There is an immediate need to develop the infrastructure and public facilities like building, bypasses at a superfast rate developing the transportation systems to cater to the needs and loads brought by the excess activities so that existing infrastructure do not crumble under the extra load it has to bear.

The opening of the resort-cum-restaurant of the famed Maihang franchise on the Bogibeel-Kulajan road in Dhemaji and construction of some more in the vicinity bears testimonial of the economic potential the Bogibeel bridge is carrying to the region.