Patna: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has approved the alignment of two major roads, Patna-Purnea expressway and Sahebganj-Areraj-Bettiah four-lane road, to be constructed at a cumulative cost of ₹19559 crore.
Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha, who also holds the charge of Road Construction Department (RCD), on Thursday said that the MoRTH has given its go ahead to alignments of 282-km-long Patna-Purnea expressway at a cost of ₹18042 crores and Sahebganj – Areraj – Bettiah section of about 81 km length under NH-139W at a cost of ₹1447 crores in Bihar.
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Patna-Purnea expressway
The MoRTH has approved the greenfield alignment of Patna-Purnia expressway in the length of about 281.95 km. The alignment will start from Mirnagar (Vaishali) on NH-22 and will end at Chand Bhatti (Purnea) on NH-27 (East-West Corridor) passing through Samastipur, Darbhanga, Saharsa and Madhepura districts of the state.
There will be 21 major bridges, 140 minor bridges, 11 ROBs, 21 interchanges and 322 BHU/ LBHU on the alignment of this expressway. Land acquisition work will be done in 90-metre width for this expressway. An expenditure of about ₹18042.14 crore is expected on the construction of this six-lane expressway project. The construction of this expressway in the state will pave the way for social and economic development of the backward region of the state and the time taken to reach Patna from the remote Seemanchal of the state will be reduced considerably.
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On the request of the state government, a spur will be built to connect Samastipur, Saharsa and Madhepura district headquarters under this project.
Land Acquisition for Patna-Purnea e-way to start
Land acquisition work for the construction of Patna-Purnea expressway will start soon and the construction work will be started after completing the land acquisition work in the next six months and after that the construction work will be completed in three years.
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Sahebganj-Areraj-Bettiah road
The ministry has sanctioned the alignment of 81-km-long Sahebganj-Areraj-Bettiah four-lane road in two stretches, from Sahebganj to Areraj and Areraj to Bettiah, of NH-139W. The first stretch will be 38.362 km, while the second stretch will be 43.105 km in length. The construction of these projects will cost approximately ₹1446.86 crore and ₹170.273 crore respectively.
Tourist places will be connected
For the construction of the projects, land acquisition work will be done in 45- m width in West Champaran, East Champaran and Muzaffarpur districts. Construction of this road on the eastern bank of Gandak will provide easy access to Buddhist and Jain pilgrimage and tourist places.
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The construction of this road, which is very important for reaching Patna from the far north – western part of the state through the eastern bank of Gandak, will prove to be a milestone for the all-round development of the state.
4-lane Konwa Ghat-Maker road
Apart from this, the MoRTH has also approved the construction of a four-lane road at a cost of approximately ₹777.4 crore by acquiring land in a width of 45-metre on the 18.1 km long green area alignment from Konwa Ghat to Maker on the western bank of Gandak. This will greatly benefit the areas located in Saran district and pave the way for joining the mainstream of development.
Dy CM Sinha expressed his his gratitude to MoRTH minister Nitin Gadkari for the approval of these projects, He said that the State Government will provide full cooperation for completing the projects on time.
