The ambitious Ganga driveway project, stalled due to several reasons over the past four years, now has a new target date for completion: June 2020.

The project got government sanction on March 30, 2013, and was supposed to have been finished by September 8 this year.

Road construction department minister Nand Kishore Yadav on Monday said the project was now on the right track and there would no further delays.

'I accept that the project was delayed by almost four years but today I promise it that would be completed by June 2020 and would be open for the public. I honestly accept that so far only 20 per cent work has been completed,' Nand Kishore said.

Bihar State Road Development Corporation Ltd, the nodal agency for executing the project, would now complete the project in a new form. The first major change is shortening the length of the project by one km from 21.5km to 20.5km.

Under the earlier plan, a 5.9km stretch of road from Digha Ghat to AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies was to come up over the embankment followed by an elevated road from AN Sinha Institute to Nauzar Ghat for a further 7.6km. This was to have been followed by a 8km road from Nauzar Ghat to Didarganj.

'After the river Ganga changed course, there was a need for some changes. The issue was looked into thoroughly by IIT-Roorkee and accordingly the changes have been made,' said Nand Kishore, who was accompanied by principal secretary, road construction, Amrit Lal Meena and road development corporation's chief general manager Chandra Shekhar.

As per the new plan, the road from Digha to AN Sinha Institute would made on the embankment. From AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies an elevated road would connect it to Nurudaddin Ghat.

The stretch from Nurudaddin Ghat to Didarganj would be on the embankment; and from Didarganj to Gopghat it would be elevated. Altogether the total stretch of elevated road would be 11.1km and 9km would be on the embankment.

The earlier decision was to connect the Ganga Driveway to the old NH 30 and the Patna-Bakhtiyarpur four-lane road. However, the upcoming six-lane Kacchi-Dargha Biddipur bridge will connect the same portion and hence a decision was taken to cut short the road by 1km. The driveway would end near the southern end of the proposed bridge.

Hyderabad-based Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd is executing the project on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode.

Under this, funds are provided by the government and the agency is paid as per the work carried out by it. 'With this new development we have also saved Rs 390 crore which was being spent on acquiring the land for that one km stretch. But the total cost of the project has escalated by Rs 90 crore, to Rs 3,250 crore,' Nand Kishore said.

Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco) has given a loan of Rs 2,000 crore to the road construction department for this project while the state government is funding the rest.

Other changes in the project will be the addition of 12 underpasses to help people access the Ganga, especially during Chhath. These underpasses would be made along the embankment stretches at Digha Ghat gate number 93, Makdumpur, St Michael's High School, LCT Ghat, Rajapur Pul, Bans Ghat, Nurudaddin Ghat, Bundel Toli, Damrahi Ghat, Sharifganj, Katra and Dharmshala.

Also, two toll plazas would be built - one at Bans Ghat and the other near the Didarganj checkpost.

'The road on the embankment would have a 5-m wide space towards the Ganga. That would be used to build walkways, amusement park, a bus stand and a shed for commuters,' the minister said.

A total of 115 acres of land would be acquired for the project, of which 32 acres is private land. Earlier, the project needed acquisition of 530 acres of land of which 57 acres was private land. The difference is because the stretch of elevated road has increased from 7.6km to 11.1km for which less land needs to be acquired.

Eight foot-over bridges have been planned at Digha, Kurji, Rajapul, Magadh Mahila College, Gai Ghat, Khajekalan Ghat, Kangan Ghat and Patna Ghat.

The driveway along the southern bank of the Ganga was being developed to reduce travel time between Digha Ghat and Didarganj from two hours to only 25 minutes. It will also ease traffic congestion on Patna City's already congested road network.