The government today assured that the construction of the upcoming 679.596-km-long road along the India-Nepal border in Bihar would be completed by 2020.

West Champaran, East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Supaul, Araria and Kishanganj would be connected once the two-lane project is complete.

Road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav today had a review meeting on the project with senior officials of the department, including principal secretary Amrit Lal Meena and engineer-in-chief Laxmi Narayan Das.

On September 4, Nand Kishore had an urgent meeting with Union home minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi regarding the completion of the project. In the review meeting today, Nand Kishore directed the officials to complete the project on priority basis.

'After going through the review meeting, I can say that the project would be completed by 2020, but I will try my best to complete it before the deadline. Of the 679.596-km-road there is a 127.30-km stretch of national highway as well. In Bihar the total length of the project would be 552.93 km,' Nand Kishore told The Telegraph after the review meeting.

The road will start from West Champaran near Gobrahiya (Uttar Pradesh border) and end at Kishanganj's Galgalia (Bengal border).

West Champaran (111.09km), East Champaran (77.242km), Sitamarhi (89.925km), Madhubani (39.21km), Supaul (40.99km), Araria (102.128km) and Kishanganj (91.70km) are the ratios in which the road will pass through the districts. The project will have 48 major bridges and 87 small bridges with 852 culverts.

The central and the state governments are jointly executing the project. The state government is bearing the cost of the land to be acquired for the roads and the Centre would bear the construction cost. The Centre has sanctioned the project in 2012 but the problem in acquiring land delayed it, which escalated the project cost.

'When the Centre had sanctioned the project it had estimated the construction cost to be somewhere around Rs 1,655 crore, however, according to the revised estimate it is now Rs 2,846 crore. Apart from that the state government would spend Rs 2,244 crore on acquiring the land,' Nand Kishore said.

On the reason why the project got delayed, RCD minister said: 'The project has been delayed because of problem in acquiring land. The other reason was the contractors not doing their work properly after which they were debarred from the project and they moved court. The main reason behind the delay is arbitration, as 372-km road is in dispute between the department and contractors. Every year flood also hampers the work.'

The RCD has selected 15 contractors to execute the project in the seven districts. The work is underway on 180km. The state government was supposed to acquire land in 365 revenue villages out of which it has managed to acquire land in 224.

It was the idea of the central government to construct a road adjacent to the Nepal border, which comprises Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal and Sikkim.

On the importance of the India-Nepal border road in Bihar, Nand Kishore said: 'The two-lane road would not only benefit people in Bihar but would also be a bonus for the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) who keep an eye on the India-Nepal border. The road would help them in patrolling better.'

There are 252 SSB border outposts along the India-Nepal border. During the review meeting, Nand Kishore asked the officials to expedite the land-acquisition process apart from solving the other issues hindering the project.