PM Modi inaugurates India's longest rail-cum-road bridge in Assam

Bogibeel: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday inaugurated the country's longest rail-cum-road bridge over Brahmaputra river at Bogibeel near Dibrugarh in Assam.

After reaching Dibrugarh in the afternoon from New Delhi, Modi directly flew to Bogibeel in a chopper and inaugurated the 4.94-km-long double-decker bridge from the southern bank of the river.

Modi along with Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi and Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal also walked a few metres on the bridge.

The strategically important bridge over the mighty Brahmaputra will remove communication bottlenecks to several districts in Arunachal Pradesh.

The bridge, which begins at Dibrugarh and ends at Dhemaji districts of Assam, will connect parts of Arunachal Pradesh by road as well as railway.

The Bogibeel Bridge, which was a part of the Assam Accord and sanctioned in 1997-98, is likely to play a crucial role in defence movement along the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh.