[Assam] Bogibeel Bridge on the Brahmaputra

[Chan Mahanta]

The following in today's Assam Tribune, while being a welcome move, 
demonstrates once again, how national resources have been/are being 
squandered in enormous quantities. And to add insult to injury, 
massive environmental damage already has been perpetrated to the many 
mountain stream beds, forest areas, arable land
among other elements from the poorly planned and incompetently 
designed bridge's
approach roads and embankments.

Last December, when Riverwatch's Ravindranath showed me the area, I 
was stunned by the massive quantities of river-washed boulders that 
were removed from nearby mountain streams and river-beds, wrapped in 
steel mesh and stock-piled as well as placed on the approach road to 
the bridge. These river-beds will never the same again. Many 
anticipate major erosion downstream because of this mindless 
river-bed mining, perpetrated with full consent of the Forest and 
Environmental ministries, in spite of strong protests from indigenous 
people and environmental groups.

Heavy truck traffic have severely damaged roadways and bridges in the region
so terribly that ordinary traffic can barely negotiate the canal like 
ruts on the pavements--where pavements remain at all.

And all this, from our second-to-none-in-the-world Engineers ! It's 
mind boggling!

cm

******************************************************************************UnUncertainty 
looms over Bogibeel project
 From Our Spl Correspondent
   NEW DELHI, Nov 30 - The much-vaunted Bogibeel-rail-cum-road Bridge 
Project may get derailed following stiff opposition from different 
quarters, which has forced the Central Government to go slow and 
await survey reports. The campaign to save Majuli island and stop 
seismic surveys on Brahmaputra river-bed has led the Centre to do a 
rethink on the Bogibeel bridge. Memorandums submitted by two 
influential groups including the Sattra Mahasabha and a delegation of 
12 political parties to the Prime Minister have convinced the Centre 
to heed the warnings by several environmental groups and wait for the 
survey reports.

Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Santosh 
Mohan Dev said it might become difficult for the Centre give the 
green signal without thoroughly studying the reports. There is an 
apprehension that the construction of the bridge may cause permanent 
damage to the Majuli river island, he added.

The Centre's fears were echoed by the Prime Minister here today, when 
a delegation of MPs of Asom and Arunachal Pradesh called on him. The 
Prime Minister referred to the opposition to the Bogibeel project, 
saying that the Centre still had an open mind about constructing the 
bridge.

The delegation that included two Union Ministers, Dev and Bijoy 
Krishna Handique, besides MPs belonging to both Houses of Parliament, 
had called on the Prime Minister to demand national status for the 
project.

The representatives of the 12 political parties and the Sattra 
Mahasabha had met the Prime Minister to demand protection of the 
river island from erosion. The political parties wanted the Centre to 
stop the seismic survey proposed to be conducted by Oil India Limited 
(OIL) on Brahmaputra river-bed to prevent permanent damage to the 
endangered species and ecology.

As reported by this newspaper last year, a model study conducted by 
Irrigation Research Laboratory (IRL), Roorkee, on the Brahmaputra 
concerning the Bogibeel bridge, was restricted only to "determine the 
parameter of the structures of the bridge."

According to results of the model study, there may be increased 
pressure on the south bank embankment in Dibrugarh and hence there 
was every likelihood of both the banks and embankment there coming 
under the grip of erosion.

Further, the bridge would constrict 58 per cent of the natural width 
of the river at the specific locations, leading to huge upstream 
afflux of over two metres in high flood season. This afflux will 
reach up to about 10 km to 12 km upstream of the bridge centre-line. 
Dibrugarh town is within this reach on the south bank.

It has been reported that the tributaries would remain constantly in 
spate during the rainy season. There may also be failures in the 
tributary embankment systems.

Experts have suggested a comparative study to determine which will be 
more economic to give physical protection against the phenomena of 
fanning out of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries remaining always 
in spate during the rainy season. Experts have also advocated that 
the impact of the bridge on Majuli island should not be left 
un-assessed.

On the other hand, the Centre had more or less made up its mind to 
accord national project status to the bridge and the Railway Minister 
Lalu Prasad formally mentioned about it in his Rail Budget address.
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