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.