Chief minister Nitish Kumar today expressed displeasure over delay of two ambitious projects in Patna and slammed the railway ministry for halting them.

The projects are Patliputra Junction and Digha-Sonepur rail-cum-road bridge.

A few days back, minister of state for railways Manoj Sinha visited Patna and had alleged non-cooperation from the state government as far as expediting the projects were concerned.

Patliputra Junction is ready for use for more than two-and-a-half years but on several occasions, its inauguration has been postponed. Once the station becomes functional, it would ease traffic of trains on Patna Junction, Rajendra Nagar Terminal and Danapur railway station.

The same scenario is with Digha-Sonepur rail-cum-road bridge. The project was to be completed in 2007 but it was extended for eight years. The completion of the project is very important for the state as the existing Gandhi Setu, which connects Patna with north Bihar, is in bad shape.

"The central ministers paraglide in Bihar and after making announcements, they leave the state. They must be aware that who had coined the name Patliputra Junction and under whose tenure the proposal was passed? The same goes with Digha-Sonepur rail-cum-road bridge. On February 3, 2002, the project was started by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee," Nitish said on the sidelines of his weekly janata durbar at 1 Aney Marg.

In his recent visit, junior railway minister had said that by June 30 the bridge would become functional.

Nitish took a dig at Sinha saying: "I know Manoj Sinha very well. He is a very good friend of mine and he is a nice person. However, the BJP leaders force him to tell wrong things."

As things stands now, the Patliputra Junction does not seem to become functional in the coming days as the matter is pending before the railways in which they have agreed upon handing over 1.5 acres to construct the road. The villagers of Rupaspur and Jalalpur are protesting to construct the road passing through the railway tracks.

In the case of Digha-Sonepur rail-cum-road bridge, though the junior railway minister declared that the train service would start in first week of July, it doesn't seem to be correct because it can only start after the inspection by commissioner of railway safety (CRS). Till now no such indication is visible from the railways side.

A senior ECR official said: "Digha-Sonepur rail-cum road bridge cannot become functional in July because the CRS has not yet inspected the bridge. The CRS will only inspect once he works on the bridge is completed and it would take a few more months."

Nitish also took a dig at the Centre for interrupting the proposed bridge parallel to Gandhi Setu being executed by the state government. The work is set to kick off in August this year.