GUWAHATI, Dec 22 - The road bridge over the Brahmaputra, connecting river island Majuli with Jorhat, the headquarter town of Upper Assam Division, has still remained a dream, even after elapse of a year of the foundation stone laying ceremony of the bridge. Union Minister for Road Communication, Highway etc., Nitin Gadkari had laid the foundation stone of the National Highway and the bridge on February 27, 2016, at a function held at the Majuli College playground in presence of a large crowd.
The foundation stone of the bridge steered the minds of the Majuli people in such a manner that they overwhelmingly voted for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for Majuli Assembly seat Sarbananda Sonowal, who is now the Chief Minister of the State.
According to the information available with this newspaper, the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the bridge, which is an inseparable part of the proposed Sivasagar-Tekeliphuta-Dhakuakhana-North Lakhimpur-Majuli-Jorhat National Highway is still far from being complete.
The Yooshin Engineering Corporation and Natures Wadia Techno Engineering Services were awarded the contract to prepare the DPR with a sanctioned amount of Rs 7, 41, 93, 400. The DPR was to be prepared in four parts � Part-I 33 kilometres (starting point) Sivasagar; Part-II 35 kilometres Dhakuakhana to North Lakhimpur; Part-III 44 kilometres North Lakhimpur to Kamalabari; Part-IV Kamalabari to Jorhat bypass. The last date for submission of the DPR was December 31, 2017. But the parties have failed to prepare the DPR.
People of Majuli now want urgent steps from both the Governments in the State and at the Centre to complete the bridge soon and for the purpose Union Minister Gadkari, who is visiting Majuli on December 29, should make an announcement for a time-bound action plan.
The people of this famous river island have been demanding a bridge over the Brahmaputra to connect their island with Jorhat long since. This is because of the misery they are facing in carrying their sick ones to the Jorhat hospitals, their children to the educational institutions located at Jorhat and to meet the Government officials at Jorhat.
The demand was formally taken up by the Jorhat District Students� Union at its Majuli meeting on August 30, 2013. A public petition signed by over one lakh Majuli people, including the Sattradhikars (heads of the Majuli Sattras) was submitted to Union Road Transport, Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on May 1, 2015 in presence of Sarbananda Sonowal, who was then the Union Minister for Sports and Youth Welfare, at the Jorhat Circuit House.
Gadkari was also met by a 13-member delegation of the Majuli people at his New Delhi official residence at 11-30 pm of December 14, 2015. The delegation included the Sattradhikars of Auniati and Uttar Kamalabari Sattras Dr Pitambar Dev Goswami and Janarddan Goswami respectively, representatives of Majuli District Senior Citizens� Forum, Majuli District Journalists� Association, AASU and the AASU Jorhat District Committee, among others.
Sarbananda Sonowal led the team, which submitted a memorandum to Gadkari. The Union Minister assured the delegation that the bridge would be built shortly.
On February 26, 2016, Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (NER Zone) issued a communication (No. RW-NH-12014/ASSAM (4)/14-S&R (B), addressed to the State�s Commissioner and Special Secretary PWD Buildings and Highways, declaring the Sivasagar-Desangmukh-Tekeliphuta-Dhakuakhana-North Lakhimpur-Majuli-Jorhat, with bridges over the Brahmaputra, as National Highways.
District headquarter: The Majuli people also resent the fact that despite a public announcement made by State�s Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma at a public meeting at the Majuli College playground on September 8, 2016 that all the office buildings and residential quarters of the officers and employees of Majuli district headquarters would be built within three months, nothing has happened till date in this respect.
As a result, barring the Deputy Commissioner, the Superintendent of Police, the Executive Engineer of the Water Resources Department and the District Officer of Agriculture Department, all other officers of the district headquarters are functioning from Jorhat. It is also alleged that some posts for the district are yet to be created.