Railway service is likely to start by the end of next month on the 4.5km Digha-Sonepur rail-cum-road bridge, providing a much-needed relief to commuters between the city and north Bihar.
Once completed, the Digha-Sonepur bridge would also take a huge vehicular burden off Gandhi Setu, under maintenance at present.
"The rail-cum-road bridges of Digha-Sonepur and Munger would be made operational by June-end this year. Rail service will start first on the Digha-Sonepur road bridge. The Pataliputra railway station would also be started with inauguration of the bridge," East Central Railway (ECR) general manager A.K. Mittal told The Telegraph on Wednesday.
The construction of the bridge started in 2002 during tenure of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Mittal, accompanied by chief public relations officers (CPRO) Arvind Rajak and other officials, said the construction work of Digha bridge was completed except few small hurdles such as removal of 205 families from Bind Toli (starting point of bridge in Digha area) for construction of an approach road.
Bind Toli, an area of about 6.52 acres, is a major hurdle for the railways on the southern end of the bridge.
Though the state government has transferred the land to the railways, its possession has not been given by the administration. Delay in handing over this land to is throwing a spanner in this ambitious project, sources said.
Mittal, however, was confident of starting the bridge by next saying the state government had shown seriousness in getting the required land for construction of approach roads on both sides of the bridge. "I had a meeting with the chief secretary recently in this regard (getting land cleared for construction of approach roads)."
On March 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his maiden conversation through video-conferencing with chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, had raised the issue of expediting the process of land acquisition to pave way for completion of the mega project.
The Prime Minister directly speaks to chief secretaries of states once a month to monitor progress of centrally sponsored schemes and big-ticket industrial projects.
The monthly video-conferencing is organised under the Proactive Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI) scheme. It aims to take stock of implementation of various centrally funded projects.
The directive of the Prime Minister to complete the work on the bridge assumes significance in the wake of poor condition of the Mahatma Gandhi Setu, the lifeline of north Bihar. The plying of heavy vehicles, including 10-wheeler trucks, has been banned by the state government.
Mittal, talking to journalists on the occasion of Railyatri Upbhokta Pakhwara, which is being celebrated between May 26 and June 9, said senior officials of the East Central zone would talk to passengers to get a first-hand feedback and try to resolve their grievances.
Mittal said officials would be able to complete many projects in the 2015-16 fiscal as funds have been doubled for providing passenger facilities and allocation for completing construction work has been hiked by almost 50 per cent.
