NEW DELHI, July 20 - To expedite the completion of the Bogibeel rail-cum-road bridge over the Brahmaputra river, the government has provided an outlay of Rs 598 crore for the financial year 2016-17.
Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha in a Lok Sabha reply to a question by Dibrugarh MP Rameswar Teli said that construction of the rail-cum-road bridge with linking lines (73 km) has been taken up at an anticipated cost of Rs 4,996 crore. An expenditure of Rs 4,129 crore has been incurred up to March, he said.
The project has mainly suffered in the past on account of inadequate availability of funds, apart from delays in land acquisition and forestry clearances.
To expedite the completion of work, the annual outlays have been enhanced, and against an allotment of Rs 340 crore in the year 2013-14, budget allotments of Rs 600 crore and Rs 701 crore have been made in the financial years 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively.
The bridge is to have 39 spans of 125 metres each and two spans of 32.75 metres each, and for the first time in Indian railway, completely welded girders have been adopted for a bridge and so far, 21 spans have been launched for the Bogibeel bridge, the minister said.
