STAFF REPORTER
Guwahati: At a time when infrastructure development has gained momentum in Assam, there are still around 1,000 areas that are without road connectivity.
According to information available with the Sentinel, such locations with missing links are mostly located in deep interior areas of the state where topography has emerged as a major hurdle in providing meaningful connectivity to date.
And if that was not enough, Assam still has 173 wooden road bridges, with the highest number of such bridges being located in Kamrup district (26).
Darrang with 23, Golaghat with 14, Biswanath with 13, Barpeta with 13, Goalpara with 11, and Nagaon with nine wooden bridges follow suit.
Siginficantly, there are four wooden bridges in Kamrup (M) district too — two each in Dimoria and Guwahati Central Legislative Area Constituencies.
Sources said these figures are only as per the conserve estimates of Assam public works department (APWD), while in reality the number of wooden road bridges or areas with missing links coud be much more.
The sources contend that if Assam PWD assess properly, both the figures could go up.
Meanwhile, the government is continuing to prioritise road infrastructure development in the state. This is evident from the fact that altogether 887 new RCC road bridges were sanctioned for Assam in the last two financial years (FY) 2024-25 and 2025-26.
While acknowledging the government’s efforts in improving road connectivity by replacing old wooden bridges with new RCC bridges, sources stressed that providing road connectivity to areas with missing links too should be prioritised.
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