Itanagar, May 26 (UNI) The longest bridge of the country, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today, on the mighty Brahmaputra river not only reduced travel distance between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh by almost five hours but also brought out a lesser known fact to the fore that the legendary singer Bhupen Hazarika was an Arunachali, going by his place of birth. The 9.5 Km bridge, almost double the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, connects Dhola to Sadiya, which is the birthplace of the world famous singer who relentlessly worked for the unity of the country through his songs and music. Going by the version of Arunachal Pradesh Literary Society, Sadiya, which falls under Assam, used to be under the administrative control of erstwhile North East Frontier Agency. The society, in a memorandum sent to the Prime Minister through E-mail, had demanded that the Bridge be named after Bhupen Hazarika as his birth place is said to be Bolung village which falls in Lower Dibang Valley district of Arunachal Pradesh. This is being seen as a strong emotional bonding between the two States and the bridge brought them closer in more than distance terms. The three-lane bridge built at a cost of over Rs 2000-crore will cut the distance by almost 165 Km between Rupali on the National Highway-37 in Assam and Meka on the National Highway-52 in Arunachal Pradesh. This is likely to result in saving of precious petrol and diesel worth over Rs 10-lakh every day, according the official estimates. The bridge will also reduce distance between Dibrugarh and Tinsukia thereby boosting the economic activities in the region. It will also help travellers from Arunachal Pradesh to cross over to south bank of Assam in less than 15 minutes, which at present takes more than three hours. UNI MK SDR SNU 1137