Founded originally around 1840 by the Britishers as a river port for facilitating coal and tea trade, Dibrugarh is often regarded as the oldest municipal town of present-day Assam (Shillong was the oldest, but it's now in Meghalaya).
The Dibrugarh Municipality was formally declared open in 1873. The town and its citizenry are proud of this seniority. Had it not been for the great quake of 1950, Dibrugarh would have grown much more rapidly, but had to sacrifice growth to the vagaries of the Brahmaputra, which took a southward inclination since that great earthquake and in the process eroded vast chunks of the town, including its European Wards and Civil Lines.
If Nature has been cruel towards Dibrugarh, so has been the political class. Especially since the regional party AGP came to power in 1985, post which, the town's overall growth was almost stymied.
Prior to that, important railway offices, including that of the Divisional Railway Manager's office was shifted to nearby Tinsukia citing "threat from the Brahmaputra".
Eastern India's pride, Assam Medical College (AMC), too, was allowed to degenerate since 1985. However, the AMC's pride has been restored and major credit for this goes to four individuals: Hiteswar Saikia, Dr Bhumidhar Barman, Tarun Gogoi and Himanta Biswa Sarma.
As a major seat of medical care, higher education and culture, Dibrugarh has always been among the top five centres in northeast India and among the top ten in Eastern India. This could be achieved due to the efforts of several individuals who have left their foot-prints in the development and blossoming of the town. With malice towards none, these names and families would include the Rajkhowa, Saharia, Kanoi, Jalan, Duarah (also spelt as 'Dowerah' by many), and Bagchi families and the individuals would include Jiban Ram Phukan, Radha Nath Changkakoty, Radha Govinda Baruah (who founded The Assam Tribune in Dibrugarh in 1939, among other commercial and financial ventures), Babulal Poddar, Hanuman Singhania, Lakshmi Prasad Dutta, Sardar Jarnail Singh, Ganesh Chandra Sarmah, Heramba Bordoloi, Rahmat Ali, and Padma Bikash Borgohain, among others. The list would be much longer and the above-mentioned one is just a sampler of the social workers Dibrugarh has witnessed between 1925 and 1990.
Dibrugarh as a centre for medical services developed with the establishment of the Berry White Medical School in 1900. It was founded by Brigadier (Dr) John Berry White, who was the civil surgeon of the then Lakhimpur district, of which Dibrugarh was the headquarters. A keen entrepreneur, he also played a key role in the development of the coal trade and railway infrastructure in this part of the country. He was instrumental in the founding of Assam Railways & Trading Company. His efforts saw the rolling out of the nation's second railway line from Dibrugarh to Dinjan in 1882, which was later extended to Saikhowa and Margherita. His efforts also saw the transportation of tea to London via the River Steam Navigation Company.
The river steamers operated between Dibrugarh (Mohanaghat) and Kolkata, and then onwards in ocean vessels.
On the education front, Dibrugarh witnessed northeast India's first high school for girls in 1885. Prior to this, Dibrugarh Government Boys High School was established in 1840. Ever since, the town has been a major centre for educational studies. Kanoi College was established in 1945. Inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1962, Kanoi Commerce College in Dibrugarh is one of eastern India's oldest educational institutions.
Dibrugarh University was established in 1965, twenty years after the establishment of Gauhati University. Currently, these are the two affiliating universities in Assam as the rest are stand-alone varsities.
With the upgradation of the Dibrugarh Municipal Board to a municipal corporation in March 2024, the gaze on the city has been renewed. As of now, the city is all set for a major redevelopment, but these all need visionaries to set the road map.
The present crop of administrators in the civil and municipal authorities doesn't leave space for much enthusiasm, as pressing needs of the city are yet to be addressed. The wanton and unbridled encroachment of pavements and roadsides is a major issue the citizens here face. Then there is the issue of proper roads, drainage and commercial infrastructure that needs to be earnestly taken up; these have to be seriously planned by taking citizens into confidence, and implementing these on a time-bound schedule. The present trend of government servants confabulating amongst themselves is not helping to resolve public issues. The Dibrugarh Municipal Corporation is yet to have a Commissioner, and the city police is also not yet upgraded to a Police Commissionerate. These need to be urgently addressed by the State government.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarmah appears keen on developing Dibrugarh as a major centre of administration, health, education, sports, and culture. He has the vision, according to locals in Dibrugarh. They are hoping that the Chief Minister would go about having the right people at the right places for proper planning and execution of the schemes. This would pave the way for accelerated development of the State's oldest municipal town to become a model city of the nation.
- By Ron Duarah
