Patna, April 26: The Congress has countered the statement of road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav who blamed the Centre for not releasing funds worth Rs 150 crore for the repair of Mahatma Gandhi Setu in one go.

The chief spokesperson of the party, Prem Chandra Mishra, said the Centre had given Bihar Rs122.19 crore for the repair of the 5.575km-long bridge in March 2010.

The bridge was opened in 1982 and very soon it developed problems with one of the two lanes under repair at most of the time.

The chief minister had on Sunday issued directives to the authorities concerned to do away with the problem. The road construction minister charged that the Centre was sitting on its proposal for over a year.