BRAHMPUTRA BRIDGES - MY MEMOIRS OF DINJAN

ENGINEERING MARVELS - BRIDGES ACROSS BRAHMPUTRA RIVER IN THE EASTERN MOST PART OF INDIA - MY MEMOIRS OF OLDEN TIMES WHEN WE USED TO CROSS ON ELEPHANT BACK.
Dear Fellow Veterans,

BOGIBEEL BRIDGE DIBRUGARH

 1.   For a moment please let me take my friends who have served in the  East,  South of Brahmputra River in 70s and earlier will recall that there was just one bridge carrying Road as well as Meter Gauge train to Gauhati . Before this bridge came up trains and road transport would terminate on the North Bank,  passengers ferried cross and put into waiting train on the South Bank in Gauhati for on ward journey into the inner land unknown to the Nation. 

2. Going down the memory lanes for those of us who have served in  the area of 2 Mtn Div in the Eastern most part of India, will recall their unforgettable  journeys across mighty Brahmputra River from Dibrugarh while going North to the Along Bde. It took the RPL of the IWT company nearly 3.5 hours to cross over with our jeeps and Jongas in good weather.

3.   I got posted from Wellinton to earn my regtl reports to the Dingan Signals. My job took me very frequently across Brahmputra much more than seven times. They say that any one who crossed Brahmputra river will have to do that seven times.  I some times cheated myself avoiding  RPL crossing by taking the 50% concession on Fokker Friendship hopping Flights from Dibrugarh to North lakhimpur and vise-versa which made a hole of   Rs 25/- in my pocket  for the one way air ticket . Those were the times......  For about Rs 250 we could fill up the body of One ton Vehicle with oranges or pineapples (costing 25 paise only per piece)  from near Along.

DHOLA - SADIA BRIDGE ALOGNMENT

4.  Similarly taking on the tedious journey to Teju Bde located within the Assam Rifles Battalion complex, one had to cross over towards  Sadia by RPL of the IWT company of the Engineers and  the Deegaroo Nallah (Really Mad waterway) on the elephant's back with our fingers crossed. We had to take civil ferries in case the RPL was in-operative on particular days. These journeys were nothing short of nightmares. There was no commercial flight to Teju and the airstrip remain deserted.

5.   I recall the District Commissioner of Teju was a Lady at that time and her husband was an officer in Air Force or may be in Army posted in East. She will often drive up to my line party or the RR det to speak to her husband.

6.   At that time we never could imagine that a day will come that too in our life times that at these locations there will ever be bridges.  Dhola Sadia bridge and the Bogibeel are nothing less than a boon not only for the Fauj but also locals. They are the Indian Marvels of engineering in Bridge construction. Hats Off ........

7.   We have thus attempted to share the information on these two bridges through "Signals Parivaar" by means of  two different  articles. The articles high light the details of BOGIBEEL Bridge spanning across from Dibrugarh to Lekhabali and that of Dhola-Sadia Bridge on Lohith River, as it comes out of the mountains in to the plains, to be Renamed as Brahmputra at the Parshuram Temple.

8.   To access these articles with photographs of the bridges please open the following web page and click on the articles :- 

Ctrl+Click >>>            http://signals-parivaar.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_28.html

or click any where in the following insert.

http://signals-parivaar.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_28.html

In case some one has any latest info or  photographs or for that memoirs  we will be too happy to post them as part of these articles as your contribution.

Best wishes and thanks.

ब्रिगेडियर_नरेन्द्र_ढंड
Brigadier Narinder Dhand.
Founder & Convener "SIGNALS PARIVAAR"
Veterans' Own Website - http://signals-parivaar.blogspot.in
Gp Mail ID - signals-parivar@googlegroups.com
Gp Mail ID - bigger-family@googlegroups.com
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