GATEWAY CHEER: Construction work of the  34-metre-high  Sabhyata Dwar, a sandstone arch on the banks of the Ganga meant as the ceremonial gateway to Patna, is almost complete and is likely to be inaugurated soon. Sources said the state government is aiming at April 10 as the opening date for the gateway, built in the style of Mauryan architecture to evoke the glory of the ancient capital of Pataliputra."The gateway is almost ready. Civil work is over and paving and landscaping  is  being done. Electrical work on  illumination  of the arch is being carried out, which would also be completed soon," a senior official said on Sunday. The ceremonial arch was originally envisioned by the late vice-chief of army staff Lt. Gen SK Sinha as the ' civilisation  gate' that would beckon  travellers  and passers-by to the city of Patna and draw them to its multi-layered history, as it did in the reign of the Mauryan Empire over 2,500 years ago. The structure was built by the building and construction department of the state government. A Delhi-based consultancy firm had drawn up its plan. Two giant Mauryan-styled arches, one each on the northern and southern sides, have been built flanked by two small arches. "We have used red and  beige-coloured  sandstones in the gateway that has been topped with a four-sided lion emblem of emperor Asoka. The northern (facing Ganga) and southern faces of the gateway will bear two ancient inscriptions," the official said. The inscriptions will be attributed to Megasthenes, the ancient Greek envoy to Pataliputra (the capital of the Mauryan Empire,  emperor  Asoka, the Buddha, and Lord Mahavira, who was born in Vaishali.