Keeping the overall initiative to develop road infrastructure in the state, the Ministry of Road Transport and National Highways, Government of India in collaboration with the Assam Government had initiated the construction of the Majuli-Jorhat bridge.
The project is expected to bring all the hurdles of transport and communication of the river island with the rest of the state to an end.
About the bridge:
The bridge will connect the district of Jorhat to the river island Majuli and the time for the construction of the bridge is scheduled for 48 months. The length of the main bridge is said to be 5,000 m whereas the viaduct length and approach road length will be 1812.50 m and 1213 m respectively. Initially the total length of the bridge stands to be 8025.50 m.
The materials for the bridge construction will be manufactured from the UP stage, Bridge Corporation Limited, Lucknow.
It was back in the year 2020, when in order to meet the long awaited demand of the populace in Majuli island, a Jorhat to Kamalabari bridge was declared on November 17 and an estimated amount of Rs 925.47 crore was sanctioned on February 4, 2021.
Further the bridge will also provide connectivity to North-Lakhimpur district headquarters in North Assam.
Impact of the ferry mishap:
In the wake of the ferry mishap in the river of Brahmaputra, has now bounded the Government to initiate the construction of the Assam-Majuli bridge which was on hault even after twice laying of foundation stone in tenure of 5 years by Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in February 2016 and by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February 2021.
It was on September 8, 2021 when the ferry incident took place that shook the entire state. On that day one person died and as many as 35 people went missing after two ferries collided in the Brahmaputra River.
The one who died and all the 35 people who went missing were on the smaller ferry that overturned after it bumped into the other ferry from the opposite direction which was about 350m off the Nimatighat ferry point at about 3.30 p.m.
