Patna: After collapse of more than a dozen bridges last month, the Bihar government is set to re-launch the long-abandoned Mukhyamatri Setu Nirman Yojna (MSNY) for reconstruction, repair and maintenance of bridges in rural areas.
Waking up to the issue of poor maintenance of the bridges, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Friday directed the Rural Works Department (RWD) to revive the MNSY, which has been discontinued since 2015-16. It is stated during the review meeting of RWD works that around 1000 bridges that connect the district headquarters with villages required urgent repair and reconstruction.
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According to the department officials, a sum of ₹5,500 crore is required to repair and maintain the bridges. “We have prepared the estimate. Detailed project reports (DPRs) of a few bridges have also been prepared. However, as it required huge expenditure, we are planning to launch work from the renewed scheme,” said a senior officer.
In the month of July this year, as many as 17 small and medium sized bridges, mostly built by the RWD had collapsed. A dozen of engineers and a few contractors were blacklisted by the department.
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Taking serious note of the vulnerability of bridges, which link villages with the district headquarters, the CM had directed the officials to expedite work on the ongoing projects, so that people did not feel inconvenience to travel by roads.
The CM also asked the officials to undertake urgent repair of damaged bridges and ensure proper maintenance until the new bridges are built. He categorically asked the officials to see that no village shall be left without proper road connectivity at any cost. “The department shall assess the requirement for repair and strengthening of all roads and bridges and expedite work on them,” the CM said while reviewing works of the department.
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Officials said that the department will soon submit the proposal to relaunch the MNSY to the cabinet for its formal approval. “Once it is approved by the cabinet, we will go for allocation of sufficient fund to reconstruction of new bridges. Construction of new bridges and repair of existing bridges could be taken up under the MSNY.
Chief secretary Brijesh Mehrotra, principal secretary to CM S Siddharth, additional chief secretary, RWD, Dipak Kumar Singh and senior engineers of the department were present in the meeting.
