Dibrugarh: Union minister of state for railways Rajen Gohain on Sunday directed the railway authorities to expedite the construction of the Bogibeel bridge and abide by the schedule for commissioning of the multi-crore project.

The minister, accompanied by Dibrugarh MP Rameshwar Teli and senior railway officials, visited the project site, 17km downstream of Dibrugarh town and took stock of the progress of work.

With work on the bridge coming to a complete standstill for the last four days because of an ongoing contractors' dispute, the minister held a meeting with district and NF Railway officials, representatives of the construction agency Hindustan Construction Company and contractors to sort out the issue. At the end of the 90-minute-long meeting, the minister said the matter was resolved with mutual consensus and work will resume by Sunday. The minister instructed the railway officials to withdraw the police cases lodged against the contractors who stopped construction work on the bridge since Wednesday.

"The matter has been amicably resolved. I have directed railway officials to expedite the construction and finish the project according to the new deadline. I have been informed that 95 per cent of the bridge has been completed. I am hopeful that the project will be complete by July,"Gohain said.

The Bogibeel bridge, which has seen multiple delays over the years, is going to complete 16 years of construction on April 21 this year. The 4.94-km long Bogibeel bridge over the Brahmaputra will be the longest rail-cum-road bridge in the country.

Gohain also held a review meeting with senior railway officers of NFR at Maligaon in Guwahati. Progress of all ongoing railway projects in the Northeast, including the Bogibeel bridge project, was reviewed. He took stock of the future developmental plans that are being implemented for their timely completion.