Saraighat (Pron: ˌʃəraɪˈgɑ:t) is a neighborhood in the Indian city of

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

, on the north bank of the river

Brahmaputra The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. It ...

. Sarai was a small village where the old abandoned N.F. Railway station of

Amingaon Amingaon is a locality in North Guwahati. Amingaon is the district headquarter of Kamrup (Rural) district of Assam. It is also future hub of Assam with many mega projects due to massive expansion of Guwahati metropolitan city. Geography It is a ...

was located.

History

The

Battle of Saraighat The Battle of Saraighat was a naval battle fought in 1671 between the Mughal Empire (led by the Kachwaha raja, Ram Singh I), and the Ahom Kingdom (led by Lachit Borphukan) on the Brahmaputra river at Saraighat, now in Guwahati, Assam, In ...

between Ahom Kingdom and

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

was fought near this place on the river in 1671.

Transport

There are two bridge over the river

joining the north and south banks at Saraighat. The Old Saraighat Bridge is the first rail-cum-road bridge constructed over the

Brahmaputra River The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. I ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

. Adjacent New Saraighat Bridge is a road only bridge.

Lachit Borphukan Lachit Barphukan was an Ahom commander, known for his leadership in the Battle of Saraighat that thwarted an invasion by Mughal forces under the command of Ramsingh I. Biography Lachit was born to Momai Tamuli, a commoner who rose to the ran ...

Park is situated on the south end and Chilarai Park situated on the north end of the bridge. Old Saraighat Bridge: Initially planned in 1910, and proposal gained momentum during the Second World War though there were doubts over the stability of the railway line between

Bongaigaon Bongaigaon () is a major city in the Indian state of Assam. Its urban area spans across Bongaigaon and Chirang district. The city also serves as the gateway of the North-East Frontier Railway Zone with its New Bongaigaon Junction railway st ...

and Amingaon following devastating floods in 1942-43, the Railway Minister announced the decision to construct thebridge in the Budget session of the Parliament in 1958. Built by

Northeast Frontier Railway The Northeast Frontier Railway (abbreviated NFR) is one of the 19 railway zones of the Indian Railways. It is headquartered in Maligaon, Guwahati in the state of Assam, and responsible for operation and expansion of rail network all across No ...

under the direction of chief engineer Bankim Chandra Ganguli, the

Hindustan Construction Company Hindustan Construction Company Limited (HCC) is an Indian Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Project Management companies. It is headquartered in Mumbai. HCC was founded by Industrialist Seth Walchand Hirachand in 1926. HCC has exe ...

built the foundations and piers for the bridge, and Braithwaite Burn and Jessop company built the double-warren trusses between the piers and the shore. Construction of Saraighat Bridge was started in the dry season of 1958-59. The bridge was completed in September 1962 and the first engine rolled across it on 23 September 1962, followed by Goods Train service from 31 October that year. The roadway opened in March 1963. Prime Minister

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India du ...

dedicated the bridge and formally named it after the

on 7 June 1963. Total cost of construction was around Rs 10.65 crore and the total length of it is 4258 feet. The road is 24 feet wide with six feet wide footpath on both sides. Bridge has 12 spans and 14,000 tonnes of steel, 4.2 cubic feet concrete, and 40,000 tonnes of cement. 100 million cubic feet of earthwork were used to construct the bridge. A 40 feet clearance is kept from the normal high flood level to ensure free navigation under the bridge. In April 2012, the Railways entrusted the

IIT Guwahati The Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT Guwahati) is a public technical university established by the Government of India, located in Amingaon area, North Guwahati city, in the state of Assam in India. It is the sixth Indian Instit ...

with the responsibility of studying the effect of age on the bridge. The experts gave the opinion that the structure and all the pillars of the bridge are in sound condition and the bridge would be able to serve the North East region of the country for years to come. New Saraighat Bridge: A companion three-lane concrete road bridge was inaugurated in 2017.

References

{{Reflist

Cities and towns in Kamrup district Neighbourhoods in Guwahati Transport in Guwahati

History

Transport

See also

References