The tender process towards building the crucial alternative bridge to Coronation Bridge in north Bengal is set to start rolling in December, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista said on Thursday.
This development comes almost four years after the proposal had received the Centre's green signal.
Coronation Bridge at Sevoke, around 25km from Siliguri, had been commissioned over the Testa river in the colonial era, in 1941, to commemorate the coronation of George VI, which explains its name.
The bridge along NH31C is an important link between the Northeast and the rest of India. However, as it is over eight decades old, narrow and congested, a new bridge has become imperative. The new bridge will also be strategically important because of the region’s proximity to China.
“I am happy to share that the tender of an Alternative to Coronation Bridge will be undertaken within December, 2025,” Raju Bista, Darjeeling MP and BJP leader, said in a written statement.
Bista said he held a meeting with the NHAI officials and visited the Coronation Bridge on Thursday.
“They (NHAI officials) informed me that the alternative bridge and approach road will be part of the greater plain including Siliguri Ring Road, and Expressway connecting Siliguri to Gorakhpur,’ stated Bista.
The Darjeeling MP clarified while the rest of the project was being taken up in phases, the tender process for an alternative bridge and approach road here will begin in December and “construction will commence immediately after that".
The Darjeeling MP said that even though the Centre had allocated ₹1,190 crore for the construction of a new bridge and an approach road in February, there had been inordinate delay due to jurisdictional issues.
“The particular section was under WB PWD-NH division, but now it has been officially handed over to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI),” stated Bista.
In February this year, the Union ministry of road and transport sanctioned ₹1,190.40 crore to build the second bridge over the Teesta to connect Sevoke Bazar with the Dooars.
The funds allocation was announced by the Union minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari in reply to a question by Bista in Parliament.
Gadkari’s announcement had come after the Bengal government had consented to the construction of the bridge almost four years after the Centre sanctioned the project.
Sources said that the four-lane bridge would be 14 metres wide. The project is supposed to be completed within 36 months of the commencement of work.
Coronation Bridge, built between 1937 and 1941, will get some respite once the new bridge is built. However, the bridge famed for its steel arch design will continue to draw tourists.