Dec. 7: The Centre is looking into Dispur’s plea for a second rail-cum-road bridge over the Brahmaputra in Guwahati.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Tuesday convened a meeting in the South Block to discuss the proposal. Chief secretary S. Kabilan, who represented Assam in the meeting, has reportedly made a strong case for the second bridge.

Confirming the development, Kabilan, who arrived in the city from the national capital today, said: “The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) wants a road bridge, but we have appealed for a rail-cum-road bridge. The PMO gave us a patient hearing and I am quite optimistic.”

Sources said that Dispur’s case become strong in view of the incident of bridge collapse in Bihar a couple of days back. “The bridge that collapsed in Bihar was 150 years old. Though the Saraighat Bridge is not as old as the Bihar bridge, we should not forget one thing — it is the only bridge connecting the city to the other side of the Brahmaputra and its traffic load is only increasing by the day.”

The demand for a second bridge over the Brahmaputra gained momentum after a crack appeared in the approach road to the Saraighat Bridge in July 2004.

Hindustan Construction Company Ltd started the construction of Saraighat bridge, the first rail-cum-road bridge over the Brahmaputra in the city, in January 1958. The bridge was opened to traffic on October 31, 1962.

Experts have also opined that given the ferocity, magnitude and the unpredictable behaviour of the Brahmaputra, a second bridge has become imperative to avoid any disruption of road link to the city.

In 2000, then Assam public works department minister Nagen Sarma had written to the Union ministry for surface transport seeking funds for the construction of a second bridge over the river.

At a public meeting held last month, the Assam Rail Passengers’ Association had also demanded that the road bridge proposed by the Centre be converted it into a road-cum-rail bridge.

To be constructed under the East West Corridor project by the NHAI, the new road bridge will be just 40 meter south of the Saraighat bridge.

Construction major Gammon India Limited has bagged the contract to build the proposed bridge at a cost of Rs 238 crore. The construction of a road-cum-rail bridge instead of the proposed road bridge is likely to increase the cost by around 40 per cent.