Bihar project gets go-ahead: NHAI alters rules, govt plans bridge over Ganga
It will give faster access to over two lakh riverine belt people of Begusarai, and shorten the distance to Nepal, Jharkhand, and Orissa by 70 km.
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The proposed bridge project on Ganga in Begusarai (Express Photo)Even as the Centre lays focus on the rural economy to generate more employment and give easy access to produce from villages to towns, it has cleared a crucial bridge project on the Ganga in Begusarai, which would shorten the travel route from North Bihar to South Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand, and Nepal by at least 70 km.
The bridge linking the riverine areas of Matihani and Sambho in Begusarai would also connect NH-31 (Patna-Mokama) and NH-80 (Begusarai-Purnea). The bridge would also hold greater importance in terms of the safety of 13 industrial units in Begusarai and Barauni by providing a base and easy access to NDRF teams in times of any industrial disaster.
Union Minister of Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari wrote to Rajya Sabha MP Rakesh Sinha on October 15 this year: “… My ministry has granted approval for the construction of a bridge over the Ganga (Matihani-Sambho)”.
On September 30, 2022, the ministry had written to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) approving the project. The NHAI had made a rare exception to its rules to clear the feasibility report of the Matihani-Sambho bridge (about 2.5 km). As per the rule, if there is a bridge over the same river within 50 km of either upstream or downstream, a new bridge cannot be considered. But in this case, the shortening of about 70 km distance between three states and Nepal, focus on the rural economy and possible diversion of traffic loads between two national highways look to have clinched the project.
Rajya Sabha MP Rakesh Sinha told The Indian Express: “At a time when the Central government has been giving a push to the policy of getting the market to farmers and rural India, the construction of the proposed bridge would connect industrial towns of Begusarai and Barauni to three states for trades, saving time and energy on fuel. The distance between Begusarai and Munger, Lakhisarai, Bhagalpur, and Patna would be less than 40-50 km from the present distance via the Mokama bridge. It could not have been possible without the keen interest shown by Nitin Gadkari ji”.
Sinha, a Begusarai resident, had been pursuing the matter for the last three years. On June 10, 2020, Nitin Gadkari had written to Sinha: “…It is stated that NHAI is constructing two new bridges across River Ganga near your proposed location, in which one is being constructed at Mokama on NH-31, which is towards the upstream side and other is being constructed at Munger on NH-80, which is downstream”. The minister had added: “I am happy to inform you that the matter has been examined and NHAI has initiated the feasibility study for the proposed project which is expected to be completed by December 2020.”
This bridge would be a realisation of the dream of over two lakh residents of Sambho and Matihani. People, mainly farmers, from both sides will be able to go to neighbouring towns across the Ganga, Munger, Suryagarja, and Bhagalpur in a matter of 30 minutes to an hour now as against the current four hours through the Mokama bridge. Vehicles coming from South Bihar would not need to take the Old Mokama Bridge for North once this bridge comes up.
Sinha said: “We wonder successive how governments had not thought about giving easier safety routes for disaster management teams for Begusarai and Barauni industrial units such as refinery and thermal power station”.
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