ANWARUL HODA / PATNA
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari today inaugurated and laid foundation stones of 15 National Highway projects in Patna and Hajipur in Bihar. The total cost of the project is over Rs.13,585 crore.
Speaking on the occasion Mr. Gadkari said Mahatma Gandhi Setu over the river Ganga in Patna is the lifeline of Bihar, which connects North Bihar with South Bihar. With this superstructure replacement project, the time taken to cross Mahatma Gandhi Setu has been reduced from 2 to 3 hours to 5 to 10 minutes. He said the Chhapra-Gopalganj section being 2-lane with 4 bypasses will allow the traffic of the highway to pass through the bypass and the city will get rid of traffic jams.
The Minister said the route from Umagaon will directly connect the religious places of Uchhaith Bhagbati and Mahishi Tarapith. Aurangabad – Chordaha section 6-lane road will improve the connectivity of Bihar with Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Mr. Gadkari said Munger – Bhagalpur – Mirzachowki section 4-lane greenfield road will facilitate the farmers of this region to deliver their crops across the country, which will increase the income of the farmers. He said the 2-lane road being built on NH-80 will facilitate connectivity between Bihar, Sahibganj and Assam connecting with the Inland Waterways Terminal reducing the logistics cost.