Title - Govt plans new road-cum-rail bridge over Brahmaputra at Dhubri

Guwahati: The Centre on Friday said it would start a feasibility study to construct a road-cum-rail bridge over river Brahmaputra at Dhubri in Assam as a part of the newly declared national highway 127(B)."The Ministry has decided to carry out a feasibility study for the important newly declared NH-127(B), connecting Srirampur on NH-31(C) with Phulbari via Dhubri, including construction of a bridge over Brahmaputra," Road, Transport and Highways Secretary Vijay Chhibber told reporters.The planned bridge would be a road-cum-rail one, he added.The government had also approved a proposal to construct a new bridge across the Barak river to connect Silchar town in Assam as an alternative to the existing Sadarghat bridge, besides widening the NH-37 between Numaligarh and Dibrugarh to four-lane in the state, Chhibber said.On projects in Manipur, Chhibber said the government will conduct a feasibility study for an alternative or a new highway between Chumukedima near Dimapur in Nagaland and Maram in Manipur on NH-39 to avoid the sinking zones."Manipur currently has two highways, but both are prone to disruptions -- natural as well as man-made. We are exploring if a bypass can be built in Imphal," he added.The government would also develop the 130-km stretch of NH-44 between Agartala and Sabroom, providing connectivity to Chittagong port through Bangladesh.

Also, a feasibility study would be conducted to construct a bypass on NH-44(A) between Aizawl and Lengpui airport to have a trouble-free all-weather road, Chhibber said.

The Ministry would also take up construction of a new bridge at Dawki in Meghalaya which had been over-delayed.

Road, Transport and Highways Minister Oscar Fernandes and senior officials from the Ministry held a review meeting of the road projects in North East with Chief Ministers and representatives of the states from the region in Guwahati today.

"North Eastern states are very important for the economy of the country. It is our special duty for the people of North East to provide them better connectivity," Fernandes said.