Development in Bihta is about to get a fillip with one of the most commonly used routes between Patna and the satellite township being upgraded to a four-lane road.

The road construction department will soon begin to prepare the feasibility study and the detailed project report to develop the 11.7km Khagaul-Naubatpur-Shivala-Bihta road.

Converting the two-lane road into a four-lane one will improve Bihta's connectivity with Patna and give a boost to real estate with fast transportation to the growing township, already labelled as an industrial and educational hub of Patna district.

On the upgrade proposal, a senior road construction official said: "It has been included in the department's budget for the 2016-17 fiscal under non-plan heads. We have decided to conduct a feasibility study and the corresponding detailed project report (DPR) will give us details about the fund estimate, land to be acquired and shifting of utilities among others. We intend to get the DPR prepared within six months, following which construction work will start."

The Patna end of the stretch to be converted into a four-lane road is in Khagaul, around 500m west of Danapur railway station, and the Bihta end is at Kanhauli village, a kilometre or so before the Bihta town area.

This stretch will not be the only four-lane road for Bihta residents. There are two more in the pipeline. One is the Patna-Buxar NH 30 route and the other the Bihta- Sarmera state highway 78.

Progress in both the projects has been delayed but sources said work on Patna-Buxar NH 30 will begin soon. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has divided the project into two parts - Patna to Koilwar and Koilwar to Buxar - and separate contracts have been awarded for them.

"The Patna-Buxar NH 30, being upgraded into a four lane by NHAI, meets the Khagaul-Shivala-Bihta road at Kanhauli from where the national highway proceeds towards Ara via Bihta and finally to Buxar. So, we have confined our four-lane project till Kanhauli only," said the state road construction department official.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar had laid the foundation stone for the project on March 21, 2010 to make the Bihta-Sarmera state highway a four-lane road. The project initially had a cost component of Rs 391.76 crore with a deadline of May 2013. But not even half of the work is complete till date. Bihar State Road Development Corporation is executing the Asian Development Bank-funded project.

"The contract of the previous firm has been terminated and another firm has been awarded a fresh contract for the project. The work resumed in November last year and it is targeted to be completed in two years," said a senior official looking after the project.

Development of the four-lane roads spells good news for Bihta, as eventually the alternative airport for the Patna aerodrome is proposed near the Bihta-Sarmera SH 78 at Dumri in Punpun block.

In the past few years, Bihta has experienced a boom with institutions such as IIT-Patna, ESIC hospital-cum-medical college and factories, including Molson Coors Cobra and Hero Cycles, coming up in the township. Four-laning the Khagaul-Naubatpur-Shivala-Bihta road would also support the proposal of starting civil operations from the Indian Air Force airbase situated alongside the road.

"According to modern practices, a dedicated expressway is required for vehicular traffic coming to airports and four-laning the Khagaul-Naubatpur-Shivala-Bihta road will serve this purpose," said an aviation expert in Patna.