GUWAHATI: The Dibrugarh district administration has asked the superintendent of police to beef up security and take up precautionary measures against “untoward incidents” in and around the newly-inaugurated Bogibeel Road-cum Rail Bridge.
In a written communication to the district’s SP, the administration has requested for deputing adequate security forces and personnel for traffic management in the area besides necessary arrangements for round-the-clock patrolling to avert untoward incidents.
“People in large numbers are coming to witness the newly opened bridge and spend time in the area. Now, amidst the movement of huge traffic, the district administration has noticed some incidents of road mishaps which is a serious concern and need to be checked immediately,” the letter to the SP by district magistrate, Dibrugarh, read.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on December 25 inaugurated the 4.94km bridge (the longest rail-road bridge in the country) connecting Dhemaji in the north bank of the Brahmaputra from Dibrugarh in the south.
The facility, which has taken about 17 years to complete since construction began in the year 2002, has reduced travel time significantly between the two districts besides improving connectivity between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
Already, there has been a surge of visitors to the bridge making traffic management challenging and posing risk to commuters and visitors to the area.
Sources said that the Dhemaji district administration has imposed a “three-minute” vehicle parking time restriction on the bridge in a bid to avoid rush and control traffic.
Meanwhile, Union railway minister, Piyush Goyal had on Saturday, urged organisations in the state not to get involved in controversies relating to the naming of Bogibeel Bridge.