Union Minister of  Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Ayush, Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday launched multiple projects for the development of 

the Bogibeel region in Dibrugarh. The union minister laid the foundation for construction of two floating jetties at Bogibeel and Guijan. Sonowal also inaugurated the Bogibeel Riverfront passenger jetty. The event was also attended by Union 

Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Labour, 

Rameswar Teli,  Chairman of IWAI, Sanjay Bandopadhyaya,

and the General Manager of NF Railways Anshul Gupta among others. 

The Two floating jetties at Bogibeel in Dibrugarh district and Guijan in Tinsukia district will be constructed as state-of-art terminals using 

the most advanced and updated technology. Both the jetties are being

constructed by IWAI over the National Waterways – 2 (NW-2), popularly known as River Brahmaputra. The work has been awarded to Coastal Consolidated Structures Pvt Ltd on an EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) contract mode. The two jetties are estimated to be 

built at a cost of Rs 8.25 crores and is scheduled to be completed by 

February, 2023. 

Sonowal, also inaugurated the Bogibeel 

Riverfront Passenger Jetty which has been developed by the 

Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) as part of Riverfront 

Development near the Bogibeel bridge. Further to this development, 

plans are afoot to construct an Open platform, a restaurant, 8 biotoilets and 6 awnings as part of the Riverfront site. The entire 

structure has been constructed over railcolumns with angle frame 

covered by WPC board floorings. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 2.5 crore. A total of 3,560 square meters are being developed 

under this project. The Riverfront 

development work has been going on with a vision to make this area as a tourist hub in this region. 

Speaking at the event, the union minister

said, “The vision of Prime Minister Narendra 

Modi is to harness the potential of an economic and ecologically 

sound logistics avenue of Inland waterways. The PM Gati Shakti 

National Master plan is exactly the key that we are using here today, to 

unlock the huge potential of inland water transportation in Assam 

using National Waterways 2, our river Brahmaputra. We must tap this 

opportunity and build an economic advantage which will power the 

whole of Northeast india as the New Engine of growth for India. Our 

government is also identifying avenues to promote inland navigation, 

river cruise tourism, and construction of suitable terminals across the 

Brahmaputra.” 

The Union Minister also added that India’s longest 

river cruise service will begin from early next year between Varanasi 

and Bogibeel, traversing a distance of more than 4,000 km via Ganga, IBPR and Brahmaputra. This is going to usher a novel opportunity for people of Assam to use inland waterways to promote 

their trade and livelihood in tourism and cargo transportation. 

In addition to the floating jetties, ferry ghats, floating restaurants, 

public eating stalls, tourist visits, picnic spots, eco resorts 

are also being planned. A permanent cargo terminal at Bogibeel is 

also being planned for conducive transport of cargo from the 

neighbouring industries like Brahmaputra Cracker & Polymer 

Limited and Brahmaputra Valley Fertiliser Corporation Limited. A Detailed Project Report (DPR) is being done in this regard. The proposed tourist terminal in the vicinity of the Guijan Ghat is located on the banks of the river Lohit.

Sarbananda Sonowal further said, 

“Nature has bestowed us with one of the most powerful resource – the river Brahmaputra. Our civilisation has always prospered with the help of its might, its capability and its promise. The vision of Prime 

Minister Narendra Modi is to pick up this rich historical legacy that people of Assam share with the river Brahmaputra and energise multi 

modal avenues to unlock the huge economic growth potential that the 

region possess. Our sincere effort is to re-energise the NW-2; i.e. Brahmaputra, so that the huge potential of cargo movement can be 

availed by the businesses of the region.”

The Project Influence Area (PIA) for Bogibeel terminal is the upper part of Assam which encompasses districts of 

Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and parts of 

Nagaland. The PIA is marked by the presence of paper industry, coal 

deposits, food processing units, tea estates, fertiliser production unit 

and refineries. Similarly, the huge potential of inland navigation, 

river cruise tourism on Lohit and Brahmaputra will be explored, 

development jetties along the way to be considered and the 

opportunity for an ecologically sensitive economic development of 

the region is aimed to be tapped. 

The event was also attended by Bijay Kumar Mishra, DRM, Tinsukia, 

NF Railway, Jiten Hazarika, Vice Chancellor of Dibrugarh 

University, Biswajit Pegu, Deputy Commissioner

Dibrugarh, Vijay Kumar Pal, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of

Brahmaputra Cracker & Polymer Limited (BCPL), Dr Saikat Patra, Chairman, Dibrugarh Municipal 

Board, Ujjal Phukon, Vice-Chairman, Dibrugarh Municipal 

Board, Akhim Hazarika, Chairman, Dibrugarh Development 

Authority among others. 

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