The road construction department, headed by Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, has shifted its focus to the road section of the Digha-Sonepur rail-cum road bridge to make it functional by June 11, Lalu Prasad's birthday.

On February 3, 2016, the railway section of the bridge started but work on the approach road - handled by the state government - is still under way. Tejashwi has instructed the department to make the road deck functional at any cost by June 11, as he wants it to be a "gift" for his father.

Approach roads on both the Digha and Sonepur sides of the bridge have been entrusted to two wings of the road construction department. The Bihar State Road Development Corporation is responsible for work on the southern side (Patna) while the Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam has been tasked with constructing the approach road on the north side (Sonepur). As the Gandhi Setu, the link between Patna and north Bihar, is in bad shape and its restructuring work will take about 42 months, making the Digha-Sonepur road deck operational is even more important.

Now, the approach road on the Patna side is almost complete but 10 more spans have to be installed on the Sonepur side. Sources said the agency is working at a slow pace, but the engineers on ground don't want to be hasty.

"Lifting the span (superstructure) is done with heavy machinery and it is risky work, if anything is done in a hurry, there are chance of accidents," a senior engineer associated with the project on the Sonepur side told The Telegraph on condition of anonymity. "We do not want to be hasty, but at the same time we have to meet the deadline as Tejashwi ji has already announced to gift the road to his father on June 11. We are trying our best to complete the work but we cannot compromise with the life of the labourers."

The Patna end has 2km of approach road, and the Sonepur end 5km. The Nigam just needs to complete 2.56km stretch of road from Pehleza to Hariharnath.

Although Tejashwi agreed that the Digha-Sonepur project was special for him, he stressed that every road project was important to him. "Ever since I have taken oath, my only priority is the development of Bihar," said deputy chief minister Tejashwi, who will visit the construction site on Sunday. "I personally monitor all the major projects and this is the first time that principal secretary-level officers visit the construction site to check the work. There should not be any politics over it.

"Yes, it (the project) is special for me because when the Digha-Sonepur project started in 2002, it was only a rail bridge, but when my father became the railway minister, the road deck was added to it in 2006. That time, Nitish Kumar ji was chief minister. The day the road deck is opened on June 11, Nitishji and the then railway minister (read Lalu) will be present," he added.

Sources said it is important that the road deck of the bridge is opened on time, because after June 15 the pontoon bridge that has lessened the pressure on the Gandhi Setu will be disassembled in preparation for the monsoon season.

On June 11, Tejashwi will also open the Ara-Chhapra bridge - a 4km bridge connecting Bhojpur and Saran district across the Ganga - to the public.