Patna, July 11: The Mahatma Gandhi Setu — the lifeline for north and south Bihar and the second largest river bridge in Asia — is likely to get a much awaited facelift with the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) taking over its renovation and maintenance from today.

The 5.575-km bridge on the Ganga between Hajipur and Patna has been in dilapidated condition for over a decade with traffic snarls plaguing commuters regularly. With only one lane operational, vehicular movement is a nightmare in spite of the administration’s many efforts.

The decision to hand over the bridge to NHAI was formalised at a meeting between Union road transport secretary A.K. Upadhyaya and the state secretary in the road construction department, Pratyay Amrit.

Upadhyaya, a 1975 batch Bihar cadre IAS officer, is here on a two-day trip to look into the national highways in the state.

The government welcomed the development, which promises to provide a hindrance-free journey to commuters. State road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav told The Telegraph: “It is a welcome development. From now, NHAI will manage the affairs of the bridge which requires a major overhauling. The Union secretary, who is here, will ask for a proposal on this from his officials in Bihar.”

The Bihar government had been demanding NHAI takeover of the bridge for the last five years.

Yadav said that based on the proposal of its experts in Bihar, NHAI would change the super-structure — surface that rests on the pillars and is used by vehicles — of the bridge. “As per our findings, there is no fault with the bridge’s pillars. NHAI, equipped with qualified experts, engineers and adequate financial resources, will quickly change the super-structure, making the bridge comfortable for driving.”

The single-lane bridge was opened to traffic in 1982. The eastern flank was added to it in 1987, making it double-lane. The authorities felt the need to repair the super-structure for the first time in 1991. But with no repair work taking place, one of the lanes with defective super-structure was closed in subsequent years.

Almost all political parties in the state were unanimous in their demand for changing the super-structure of the bridge. RJD MP from Vaishali Raghuvansh Prasad Singh too had written a letter to Union road transport minister C.P. Joshi, seeking NHAI takeover of the bridge.

The NHAI also took up construction of the bridge over the river Kosi at Dumri in Khagaria. The proposed bridge will connect Saharsa and Supaul districts.