Patna: Residents will not encounter problems crossing the Ganga in the next five years. Going by the road construction department's plan, there should be 16 bridges connecting Patna with north Bihar over the Ganga.

When the NDA government was formed in 2005, there were four bridges over the Ganga - Buxar to Balia, Gandhi Setu, Mokama Bridge and the Bhagalpur-Vikramshila Setu.

"Apart from the four existing bridges, two new bridges - Ara-Chhpra and Digha-Sonepur rail-cum- road bridges, which makes it six bridges - became functional. As things stand now, construction work is on for four new projects. The projects are the six-lane Kachchi-Dargah to Bidupur, Bakhtiyarpur-Tajpur, Munger rail-cum-road bridge and Sultanganj Bhagalpur Aguani Ghat Khagaria Bridge," road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav told The Telegraph.

The Nitish Kumar government's commitment to all-round development of the state has been proved by constructing bridges over rivers in the past 12 years. Bihar's emphasis on constructing bridges has proved a boon for people.

The Nitish government has also proposed eight new bridges over the Ganga to not only reduce travel time but will also connect people from north Bihar to south Bihar.

In the absence of bridges on the Ganga, vehicular traffic on existing bridges increases.

Nand Kishore said the four new bridges which have been approved either by the Centre or the state government will make the life of residents smooth as criss-crossing the Ganga would be a cakewalk.

"The bridge projects which have been approved and are under the process of tender includes a new bridge parallel to Gandhi Setu, a bridge in Mokama, Sahibganj (Jharkhand), Manihari (Bihar) and a new bridge parallel to the Buxar bridge. All are under the process of tender and would be completed in the stipulated time frame," Nand Kishore said.

Ahead of the 2015 Assembly elections in Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a special package of Rs 1.65 lakh crore for Bihar of which Rs 55,000 crore was to be spent on roads and bridges.

On October 14, Modi said in Mokama that road projects worth Rs 53,000 crore out of Rs 55,000 crore sanctioned for the road sector in a special package for Bihar had either been completed or were under way. He even said Bihar had possibly not seen so many roads being built in ages.

On the proposed bridges, Nand Kishor said: "A new bridge parallel to the Digha-Sonepur bridge and a new one parallel to Vikramshila Setu in Bhagalpur makes it 16 bridges. All this will be completed in the next five years and bridges will change the face of Bihar. If the connectivity becomes better, it will help farmers sell foodgrains in the open market. The concept of inclusive growth can be achieved if connectivity is better."