DIBRUGARH, Dec 23 - Recalling the days more than four decades ago when citizens here were demanding a bridge over the Brahmaputra near Dibrugarh, city elders here on Saturday addressed a news conference, to state what was available on record. The conference was organised by the Dibrugarh Nagarik Sangha, and was held at the conference room of Hotel Ind-Surya here.
President in-charge of the Sangha, Jogendra Nath Borah said the news conference was just to state what is on record, and not to claim credit for the construction of the Bogibeel rail-cum-road bridge. He said it is also true that the Sangha has been steadfastly running a campaign for the bridge since the early 1970s, which no other group or organisation has done. The other organisations, in the years after 2003, passingly mentioned the Bogibeel bridge in their memoranda, like everybody does for Rohmoria (while demanding action on erosion by the Brahmaputra), or on the Subansiri dam.
While pre-1977 records on demanding a bridge over the Brahmaputra near Dibrugarh have either been lost or damaged, the Sangha�s office-bearers believe that the demand for a bridge here arose shortly after the commissioning of the Saraighat bridge in Guwahati in 1964.
Asked if the Sangha has a view on the demand for naming the bridge, Borah said he prefers that the bridge be called Bogibeel bridge, based on its geographical location. All the names that are demanded are equally important names for the greater Assamese society, and unless there is unanimity in the demand for a name, Bogibeel appears the logical choice, he said.
