Patna: The road construction department has deferred foundation-laying work on Bihar's first double-decker flyover in Chhapra as chief minister Nitish Kumar is indisposed.

Nitish was to lay the foundation stone of the Rs 441 crore project in Chhapra but the road construction department minister Nand Kishore Yadav said Nitish is unell and so a new date will be finalised soon. "The foundation stone of Chhapra double-decker flyover project was scheduled for Thursday but Nitish is unwell, so it has been postponed by at least a week," the minister said.

The Chhapra flyover is coming up in Saran, 62km northwest of Patna. The 4km flyover will be 5.5m wide and construction work will be completed in two-and-a-half years.

Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Limited will execute the project from the Central Road Fund. The flyover will extend from Gandhi Chowk to Nagarpalika Chowk in Chhapra.

The upper portion will be 3.5km long and the lower one 3km. The decision to build the flyover was taken after it was found that the road inside the town is too narrow and those going towards Gopalganj and Siwan always face a traffic congestion problem.

Many houses will have to be demolished to make way for the flyover to accommodate vehicles moving in either direction. Since this was not feasible, the RCD decided to go for a double-decker flyover

"The main road passes through the heart of town and it is not wide. It was difficult to construct a service lane, so we thought of constructing a double-decker flyover. Once the flyover is completed, it would be a boon for the people who want to travel to Patna from Chhapra. It would ease congestion on the main road passing through the main market of Chhapra town," Nand Kishor stressed.

People going from Patna side will have to take the lower flyover and those coming from the other side the upper portion of the flyover.

An estimated 2.5 lakh vehicles ply on the narrow stretch every day, triggering frequent snarls, particularly at night.

The road construction department had sent the Centre a proposal for double decker flyover last year after Union minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari hinted at it during his visit to Chhapra in October 2016.

According to sources in the RCD, the tentative date for laying the foundation stone after which the construction of flyover starts is July 11, 2018.

Interestingly, Chhapra double-decker would be India's longest double-decker flyover beating the 1.8km Santacruz-Chembur Link Road in Mumbai.