Gadkari inaugurates Koilwar Bridge over Sone river in Bihar worth Rs 266 crore

New Delhi: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the three-lane 1.5 km long Koilwar bridge over Sone river in Bihar through video conferencing on Thursday. A total of Rs 266 crore have been spent on the construction of the bridge. The existing two-lane bridge for both rail and road traffic is 138 years old. A six-lane bridge is being made in its place, of which, a three-lane carriageway has been opened for public. After completion of the other carriageway, the traffic on NH-922 and NH-30 will ease substantially. The bridge is a major connect for transport between Bihar and UP.

Union Minister Gadkari also announced a four-lane elevated road from Bharauli (Buxar) to Haidaria for providing connectivity to the Poorvanchal Expressway. The DPR for this 17-km-long link road will be ready by June next year. Speaking on the occasion he said that his Ministry has also approved the widening of 70-km Mokama- Munger road, for which DPR will be completed by April next. Similarly, work on widening of Muzzaffpur – Barauni road will start soon. The proposal of four-laning of Khagaria-Purnea road (NH-31) has also been approved and its DPR will be ready by the coming April. The four-laning of Muzaffarpur- Sitamarhi-Sonewarsha road (NH-77), which is part of Ramjanki Marg, will simplify the travel to Jakanpur Dham (Nepal), and its DPR will be ready May next year.

ALSO READ: Govt working to make India an EV manufacturing hub in next 5 years: Gadkari

Gadkari informed that road works worth Rs 30,000 crore are ongoing in Bihar. A sum of Rs 4,600 crore has been released for compensation against land acquisitions. Under the PM's package, which involves 24 projects of 1,459 Km, the work is on over 875 kms. Under this, tender for 125 km. has been issued and by next March tender will be released for another 459 kms. He said, under CRF works worth Rs. 2,097 crore has been approved in the last six years in Bihar, against which Rs 1,281 crore has been released till now.

The Minister informed that the 7-km four-lane Koshi bridge worth Rs 1,478 crore is likely to be completed by the year 2023. Tender the 4 km long Rs 1,110 crore Vikramshila bridge has been issued and the construction likely to complete in 2024. The work on Buxar bridge, lying within the 48 km. the road project, will be completed by the next year. This bridge will provide an alternative route of 250 km which takes 6 to 8 hours for travel. The tender for 6 km Rs 1,900 crore Sahibganj bridge connecting Bihar and Jharkhand has been issued, and the construction is scheduled to complete by September 2024. Work on the remaining two-lane bridge over river Ganga in Patna will be completed by next year.

ALSO READ: Gadkari lays foundation stone of country's first multi-modal logistic park in Assam

A sum of Rs 1,742 crore is being spent on reconstruction of this 5.5 km. bridge. He also announced the construction of a new four-lane, the five-km long bridge over Ganga near the existing bridge in Patna, for which an agreement has been signed in this October. This will be a unique bridge with 242-metre span facilitating the movement of large ships under it. He added that the Ramjanaki Marg is being constructed between Ayodhya and Janakpuri (Nepal), of which 240 kms. is in Bihar worth Rs 2,700 crore. He said, work on 177 kms will be completed by June next year. The balance 63m kms will start in March 2021.

The event was attended by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy CMs Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi, Union Ministers RK Singh and Gen (Dr) VK Singh, several Ministers of the State, Senior officers of the Centre and the State.

(PSU Watch– India's Business News centre that places the spotlight on PSUs, Bureaucracy, Defence and Public Policy is now on Telegram. Join PSU Watch Channel in your Telegram and stay updated)