{{Short description|Road in Assam, India}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}} {{Use Indian English|date=October 2018}} The '''Dhodar Ali''' or '''Dhudor Ali''' ({{langx|as|ধোদৰ আলি}}, {{langx|en|Lazy Man's Road<ref name=Thomson>{{cite book|last=Muirhead Thomson|first=R. C. |title=Assam Valley - Beliefs and Customs of the Assamese Hindus |year=1948|pages=[https://archive.org/details/assamvalley032292mbp/page/n96 77]|chapter=Village Life|url=https://archive.org/details/assamvalley032292mbp|accessdate=14 September 2015}}</ref> or Sluggard's Road}}), is a 212-km-long road starting from Kamargaon in [[Golaghat]] to [[Joypur,_Assam|Joypur]] in [[Dibrugarh]] touching [[Mariani, Jorhat]]. It runs through four districts of Upper Assam holding significance for several neighboring states.<ref name="Concept">{{cite web|url=http://www.arunachalpwd.org/pdf/Dhodar%20Ali%20Road.pdf|title=Concept Note on Dhodar Ali Road|last=Infrastructure Development Corporation|date=2007|publisher=Infrastructure Development Corporation|accessdate=14 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=mar2510/at08|title=Opp stresses proper monitoring|last=Staff reporter|date=25 March 2010|newspaper=The Assam Tribune|accessdate=31 March 2010}}</ref> [[File:Dhudor aali.JPG|thumb|Dhudor Ali]]
==Construction== [[Ahom kingdom|Ahom]] king [[Gadadhar Singha]] got the road constructed somewhere around 1687. The road is so called because the king mobilized some ''dhod''s (''dhod'' in [[Assamese language|Assamese]] means lazy) to build it.<ref name=Thomson></ref> Those people were said to pretend to be lazy in order to skip royal responsibilities that made the king to deploy them in the construction. King [[Pratap Singha]] built a stone bridge over the Dorika river on the road. This Dorika bridge connects [[Sibsagar]] to the nearby town [[Sonari]].<ref name="ab">{{cite web|url=http://www.igougo.com/journal-j20115-Assam-Sibsagar_-_Monuments_of_Unageing_Intellect.html|title=Sibsagar - Monuments of Unageing Intellect|last=Kharkhuwa|date=12 May 2003|publisher=IgoUgo|accessdate=14 September 2015|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225063951/http://www.igougo.com/journal-j20115-Assam-Sibsagar_-_Monuments_of_Unageing_Intellect.html#1252511|archivedate=25 February 2012}}</ref>
==Present condition of the road== In 2006, the erosion of the [[Dhansiri River]] was said to threaten its existence.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1032217851.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103094529/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1032217851.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 November 2012|title=Erosion by Dhansiri threatens Dhodar Ali |accessdate=1 April 2010}}</ref> In 2009, the state of this historic road was reported to be "deplorable" and full of potholes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1794509881.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103094545/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1794509881.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 November 2012|title=Public threatens stir over non-repair of Dhodar Ali |accessdate=1 April 2010}}</ref> A World Bank scheme and the [[North Eastern Council]] (NEC)’s simultaneous improvements and construction of a drain on the both side within [[Sonari]]<ref name=Concept></ref> is being questioned by public. The construction of the drains is criticised as wastage of money for they will have to be filled up with soil once the construction of the double lane is started.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1389434841.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103094414/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1389434841.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 November 2012|title=Drain alongside Dhodar Ali raises citizens' queries |accessdate=1 April 2010}}</ref>
The Government of Assam, on the other hand, proposed this historic road to be converted into a National Highway. But the [[Government of India|Centre]] turned it down on the ground that there was no plan to declare new National Highways.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1088742761.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103094447/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1088742761.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 November 2012|title=Centre turns down plea to convert Dhodar Ali into NH |accessdate=1 April 2010}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}} [[Category:Roads in Assam]]