Prime Minister Narendra Modi today inaugurated the Dhola-Sadia Bridge, the country’s longest river bridge, over the Lohit in the eastern most tip of Assam connecting Arunachal Pradesh. After inaugurating the Rs 2,056 crore strategic bridge at Sadia in Assam’s Tinsukia district, Modi walked a short distance over it. A vehicle carrying the prime minister, union minister Nitin Gadkari, Assam Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Chief Minister Sarbanada Sonowal and other senior government officials then passed over it.
The 28.50 km long bridge is 3.55 km longer than the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in Mumbai. It has a three lane carriage way and connects Sadia town in Assam’s Tinsukia district with Dhola village in Arunachal Pradesh across the river. The bridge will reduce travel time between strategically located Assam and Arunachal Pradesh by four hours as the earlier means of transport was only by river. Bearing in mind the necessity for quick movement of troops and artillery to the bordering state of Arunachal, the bridge has been designed to accommodate the movement of tanks, according to official sources.
