Patna: The four-lane flyover to connect Mithapur bridge to the eastern flank of Chiraiyatand road overbridge will once again miss its completion deadline.

In the past, the deadline to complete the project has been shed back several times.

On September 22, soon after holding the first review meeting of Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Limited, road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav had announced that the 854m, Rs 95.85 crore flyover would become operational by October 31 this year. However, the tardy pace of work has put paid to the plans while the ongoing work has crippled traffic on Station Road.

Nand Kishore was ready with an excuse.

"Actually we were getting very less time to complete the work because it could only be completed at night," the minister told The Telegraph on Sunday, when asked about the reason for the delay in construction work.

"The work could not be carried on during the day because of heavy traffic on the road beneath," he said. "If we had allowed the construction work during daytime, it would have created traffic chaos on Station Road, which is already congested most of the time. So, for the convenience of commuters, the work could only be carried out at night, which forced us to miss the announced deadline.

"The flyover would become functional by the last week of November," Nand Kishore added.

A senior official of Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Limted, however, attributed the delay to the festive season.

"From September, a host of festivals such as Durga Puja, Muharram, Diwali and Chhath prevented the work," said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"Most workers, including the engineers engaged in the project, left for their respective homes leading to scarcity in manpower and delaying the construction work," the official added.

"A technology called segmental bridge is being used to construct the flyover," said an engineer of the Nigam. "It uses a system of joining small sections of concrete or spans over a steel support. It also reduces the disruption to traffic during the construction period."

Once it becomes operational, the network of new flyovers along with the existing Chiraiyatand and Mithapur railway overbridges will help commuters travel from R-Block to Kankerbagh without facing the traffic and congestion in the Station Road area.

The western end of the flyover is at the GPO roundabout near Mithapur and its eastern flank will land on the existing Chiraiyatand flyover.

The upcoming flyover will be an additional flank of the existing Mithapur flyover.

Traffic congestion is a serious problem in the Station Road area. Once the flyover becomes operational, it would segregate traffic, reducing the burden on Station Road.