Dhubri-Phulbari bridge crosses 80% progress as Jogighopa bridge lags

Two bridges being built over the Brahmaputra in lower Assam are moving at very different speeds, The Sentinel reported on Monday. The 19.28-km Dhubri-Phulbari bridge has crossed 80 per cent physical progress, while the new bridge at Jogighopa is more than two years behind schedule.

Dhubri-Phulbari: on track

The four-lane Dhubri-Phulbari bridge on NH-127B will link Dhubri in Assam with Phulbari in Meghalaya's West Garo Hills. It is expected to be India's longest bridge over a river when complete.

The project has a total cost of Rs 4,997.04 crore, with an awarded construction cost of Rs 3,166 crore, and is financed with Japanese ODA loan assistance through JICA. It is being executed for the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), the central PSU under the road transport ministry, by Larsen & Toubro.

According to the report, all physical milestones so far have been met, and the project, which is monitored directly by the Prime Minister's Office, is expected to meet its completion date of December 9, 2028. Sources cited PMO oversight and the contractor's performance as key reasons it is on schedule.

What it will change

Today, people travelling between Dhubri and Phulbari either take a slow and often unsafe ferry across the Brahmaputra, or drive about 200 km upstream to cross at the Naranarayan Setu near Jogighopa, a trip of five to six hours. Once the bridge opens, the crossing should take about 15 to 20 minutes by road.

The bridge is also expected to give the Garo Hills a much shorter road link to lower Assam and the rest of the North East, and to ease trade and travel for people on both banks.

Jogighopa: delayed

The second project, a new two-lane extra-dosed cable-stayed bridge across the Brahmaputra at Jogighopa, was originally due to be completed by November 10, 2024. Its deadline has since been pushed to March 31, 2027.

The Sentinel quoted unnamed sources as saying the revised date is also unlikely to be met at the current pace of work. The report did not give a progress figure for the Jogighopa bridge or the reasons for the delay, and the agencies involved have not commented publicly.

For now, the Naranarayan Setu, the road-cum-rail bridge between Jogighopa and Pancharatna opened in 1998, remains the main fixed crossing of the Brahmaputra in lower Assam.

NEInsider will update this story if NHIDCL or the state public works department responds on the Jogighopa timeline.