Minister of state for railways Manoj Sinha at a meeting with (right) ECR general manager Madhuresh Kumar in Patna on Monday. Telegraph picture

Patna, June 2: The minister of state for railways, Manoj Sinha, on Monday held a meeting with East Central Railway general manager Madhuresh Kumar in Patna to review the ongoing projects in Bihar.

The general manager apprised Sinha of the progress of various mega railway bridges and those being undertaken by the railways in the East Central Railway (ECR) zone.

Madhuresh told the minister about the progress of the projects that include Digha-Sonepur railway-cum-road bridges in Patna and Munger and a bridge over the Kosi between Nirmali and Saraigarh.

Sinha assured the general manager that there would be no obstacles in the implementation of the various projects that are at present going on in the state.

“There would be no funds crunch for any of the railway projects, including the much-talked Digha-Sonepur railway-cum-road bridge,” he said.

Digha railway-cum-road bridge has been re-scheduled for inauguration in March 2015 but keeping in mind the pace of construction of the mega-bridge, it is unlikely that it would start operation on the scheduled time.

The Digha bridge assumes importance against the backdrop of the fact that Gandhi Setu, the only bridge at present that connects Patna with north Bihar, has of late earned the notoriety for its long hours of jam on the bridge.

However, the commissioning of Digha-Sonepur railway bridge would not provide an alternative route to enter north Bihar from Patna but could take the pressure off from Gandhi Setu, which is crumbling under heavy traffic pressure.

At present, it is also undergoing repair work on the western flank making the journey a harrowing experience.

Sinha, who arrived in Patna late Sunday evening to participate in a private function, said he would work towards reducing the operational cost and find out ways to increase revenue and take effective measures to check leakage in loading and unloading of freight.

Besides East Central Railway general manager Madhuresh Kumar, chief executive officer, construction (south) L.M. Jha, Danapur division manager M.K. Gupta and ECR chief public relations officer Arvind Kumar Rajak were present during the meeting.