No more a missing link

After years of wait,villagers in Silbiori,Assam,finally get a bridge that they hope will change lives for the better....

Last month,Nurul Amin traveled all the way from Silbori village in Assams Darrang district to the district headquarters in Mangaldoi and came back with good news: the bridge will be ready by March this year. This is not an ordinary bridge, says Amin,headmaster of the Sirajul Haque High School in the Silbori. And for the villagers,the wait for the bridge was no ordinary one. For years,they have been demanding a bridge over the Dhansiri,a Himalayan river that originates in Bhutan and flows down to the Brahmaputra. At present,residents of these villages have to take a circuitous 70 km route to reach Mangaldoi,the district headquarters.

Ever since Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi lay the foundation stone for the 252.78-metre-long bridge,part of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna,villagers have been waiting for the bridge to change their lives.

Once this bridge is complete,we will have to travel only about 35 kilometres to Mangaldoi, says Joinal Haque of Rangagora village.

Amin is looking forward to the bridge for entirely different reasons. Once the bridge comes up,more students passing out from his school will be able to attend college.

Not many can afford to send their children to colleges in Kharupetia and Mangaldoi. While our school has a very high pass percentage,hardly two or three students join college, says Amin.

The others,says Amin,from a dozen villages like Silbori,Nalbari,Kacharai-basti,Bechimari,Koupati,Rangagora,Rahmanpur and Bhabapur,are compelled to stay at home and help their parents in the field.

But there have been students who have surpassed these hurdles. One of our boys,Rejaul Haque,did his MBBS from Dibrugarh,while another boy called Farooq Ahmed went on to do his MBA and now works with a firm in Delhi, says Bakshi Mohammad Anisuzzaman,who is among the few who went on to study after school. Anisuzzaman is a government pharmacist in Nagaon district in central Assam. The reasons may be different but almost everybody in Silbori has reasons to look forward to the bridge.

Story continues below this ad

Right now,we earn about Rs 300 to Rs 400 per quintal of cauliflower. Once the bridge is complete,we will get at least Rs 700, says Abdul Rahim,a farmer.

The farmers of this village,located on the east of the Dhansiri river,have two options: either arrange for their own transport to take their produce to Kharupetia,the vegetable hub for the Northeast,or sell it at whatever price the customers ask for in Silbori.

People are also glad that the bridge will help them avoid Rowta Chariali,which is under Udalguri,a district that is part of the Bodoland Territorial Council. Frequent bandhs and road blocks in Udalguri district are a nuisance, says Rahima Bibi.

Nalini Kumar Mahanta,superintending engineer,Mangaldoi PWD Circle,says the bridge will be ready by March 31,2010. The total cost,including for the 5.89-km approach road and a smaller bridge nearby,is a little over Rs 14 crore. We hope to open the bridge in time for Rongali Bihu,the Assamese New Year, says Mahanta.