PATNA: The long-pending construction work of the Bakhtiyarpur - Tajpur four-lane greenfield bridge over Ganga river would now be completed by December 2024, officials of the construction agency informed CM Nitish Kumar on Saturday.
The construction agency officials gave this assurance to the CM after he inaugurated re-commencement of the construction works for the pending bridge during an event organized at the project site near Tajpur in Samastipur district.
The CM inaugurated the re-commencement of construction works by performing a ceremonial puja and breaking a coconut.
Initially, the construction work of the greenfield bridge was inaugurated by Nitish Kumar way back in June 2011, when he was the CM for the second term. But the project was delayed due to some reasons. One of the reasons behind the delay was that the construction agency - the Navayuga Jahnavi Toll Bridge Private Limited (NJTBPL) and the Bihar State Road Development Corporation Limited (BSRDCL) got into a legal battle in the Patna high court.
Working at the directive of the high court, officials of the state government and the NJTBPL sat together and decided to revive the project on certain conditions. Accordingly, the state cabinet, during its meeting on February 21 this year, gave administrative approval to a revised estimated cost of Rs 2,875.20 crore for the construction of the bridge and its approach roads under the public-private-partnership (PPP) mode.
While inaugurating the re-commencement of works, Nitish said, “This abandoned bridge project is being revived today. The construction works have been re-started from today.”
Nitish further asked the officials to complete the construction work of the four-lane bridge at the earliest so that people of north Bihar and south Bihar get convenience in travelling to different locations.
The CM also asked the officials to complete all soil-related works before the arrival of Monsoon this year.
Prior to inauguration, the CM conducted an aerial survey of a proposed road between Vaishali to Tajpur. He also conducted an aerial survey of the under-construction Bakhtiyarpur-Tajpur four-lane bridge.
Earlier, the officials of the BSRDCL, through a detailed presentation, informed the CM about different aspects of the revised project of the Bakhtiyarpur- Tajpur four-lane bridge. The officials told the CM that the total length of the project is 51.127 kilometers, out of which the length of the bridge would be 5.517 kilometer, while the length of the approach road is 45.610 kilometer.
State’s road construction minister Nitin Navin, MLA Rajesh Kumar Singh, additional chief secretary (road construction) Pratyaya Amrit and several senior officials of the BSRDCL and the NJTBPL also were present on the occasion.
