People walk on the six-lane 550m bridge on the Falgu in Gaya on Thursday. Deputy chief minister Tejaswi inaugurated a flank of the Rs 65-crore bridge, which connects Gaya town with Manpur block and leads to NH-82.

Another flank was opened to traffic last year.

NH-82 is an important stretch connecting Bodhgaya with other Buddhist sites like Rajgir, Nalanda and Pawapuri - that draw a large number of domestic and foreign tourists.

At present NH-82 has three single-lane bridges over the Paimar, Dhadhar and Tilaiya, built during the British period. All the three bridges have been declared unfit for heavy vehicles.

However, the approach roads at both ends of the bridge - constructed by the state bridge construction department - are yet to be completed.

Gaya district magistrate Kumar Ravi said land acquisition for widening the approach roads at both ends is in process.

The road construction department, headed by Tejaswi, has submitted a proposal for re-aligning, Ravi said.

According to sources, there is a proposal for widening the 92.935km stretch of Gaya-Nawada road up to Biharsharif into a four-lane one.

According to the proposal, there would be four road over-bridges, six major bridges, two underpasses and three bypasses near Manpur, Wazirganj and Tungi.

Narayan Kumar, a resident of Janakpur mohalla in Manpur, said there was a British period single-lane iron bridge built over the Falgu.

People residing in the Manpur area had to face great problems reaching Gaya town because of traffic congestion on the bridge. People living in Gaya town and those going to Nawada and Rajgir had to face similar problems, as they had to cross the bridge.

On the other hand, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and Gaya Town BJP MLA Prem Kumar sat on a dharna and organised a "pratirodh sabha" on Thursday. Prem said the Union government had made available Rs 65 crore under the centre reserve fund. "But neither the names of Gaya MP and Gaya Town MLA had been included in the plaque nor were they invited to attend the inaugural function," Prem said. Text by Alok Kumar, picture by Suman