Patna, April 11: Mokama MLA Anant Singh should know that where there's a will there's a way. He is trying to ensure that if vehicles cannot run, they can sail.
The bahubali (strongman) from Mokama, around 90km from Patna, has leased a cargo ship from Calcutta to help transporters and residents who face problems each day because of the deplorable condition of Mahatma Gandhi Setu and Rajendra Bridge. The ship should soon start sailing on the Ganga, ferrying trucks across. Manjeet Kumar Singh, managing director of Rajnandani Projects Private Limited, a company owned by the MLA, said transporters who need the service would be helped.
"The cargo ship's operations would start soon. Right now, we are constructing a temporary road, which would lead these trucks to the cargo ship through the ghat. While one road is being built near the Rajendra Bridge in Mokama, the construction of another road at Gai Ghat in Patna will commence soon. It is a well-known fact that both Mahatma Gandhi Setu and the Rajendra Bridge are in a shambles and it is very difficult for heavy vehicles to pass through, thanks to traffic jams that go on for hours or, sometimes, days' together. A final plan on how to go about things is being thought out and will be ready soon. We hope to start operations of the cargo ship, called Zakhir Hussain. The owner in Calcutta has assured us this ship can sail in shallow waters too," Manjeet told The Telegraph .
Transporters wishing to use the cargo ship, which can accommodate 10 trailers of 12 wheels each, will have to pay for the service. "The amount has not been fixed yet. But I have decided that emergency vehicles, like ambulances, that have to take the bridge but cannot, will be allowed on the cargo ship for free. We hope to start operations in 10 days," the MLA told The Telegraph .
At present, the 5.575-km Mahatma Gandhi Setu is witnessing temporary renovation work and the movement of 10-wheeler trucks has been banned on the bridge. The renovation work, on for almost a year-and-a-half, has made movement on the bridge a pain with long traffic jams a common sight almost everyday. The condition of the 2-km-long Rajendra Bridge near Mokama is no better. Since December, traffic from only one end is allowed to cross over to the other end at any point of time. It is too weak to support to and fro movement simultaneously. Transporters have been complaining about heavy losses, as they have to travel greater distances to go from south to north Bihar and vice-versa with the bridges not working properly.
Those in the transportation business, however, were not excited with the plan. "Around 40 per cent of trucks which are six-wheelers or more, have stopped plying. The losses are huge, around Rs 30 crore a month. Last year during monsoon, the proprietor of a cement factory in Aurangabad had leased a cargo ship to ferry his trucks. However, the plan failed miserably because of the silt problem. Right now, the Ganga's water level has dipped and is set to go down further owing to summer. We are not excited, as we know the plan won't work. There is no option other than bridges," Bhanu Shekhar Prasad Singh, present of the Bihar Truck Owners' Association, told The Telegraph .
