NEW DELHI, May 26 � Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) today cleared a proposal for construction of a bridge over river Brahmaputra linking Sadiya Ghat with Dhola. The project is estimated to cost Rs 876 crore.
Official sources said that the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and attended by Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Bijoy Krishna Handique, among others, further approved a two-lane road linking Dhola with Islampur Tiniali in Assam.
The bridge project is to be carried on BOT basis, while the road project would be taken up under the Special Accelerated Road Development Project - North East (SARDP- NE). It is part of the Prime Minister�s special package for Arunachal Pradesh (highways and roads), said sources.
Construction of a bridge over Brahmaputra between Dhola and Sadiya including its approach road (28 km) is part of the Arunachal Package approved by the Central Government. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, who will handle the project, has informed that the pre-qualification of bidders for the project has been completed and implementation would commence during the 11th Plan period.
In 2008, the then Minister of DoNER, Mani Shankar Aiyar had said in a Lok Sabha reply to a question by Dr Arun Kumar Sarma that the Ministry of Power was considering two options including the proposal to construct a bridge over Brahmaputra connecting Sadiya and Dhola in Assam, as part of the Dibang Multi-purpose Hydroelectric Project.
The Ministry of Power has submitted a proposal to the Public Investment Board (PIB) for the Dibang project in Arunachal Pradesh indicating two alternatives. The first alternative covers external roads and bridges including construction of a bridge over Brahmaputra.
