Commuters will have to wait at least a year before they can use the road deck of the Sonepur-Digha rail-cum-road bridge, across which trains started plying on February 3.
Hurdles in land acquisition are holding up completion of the road section of the bridge. The process for the construction of the approach road on the north side of the bridge has not yet been completed.
In August last year, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had refused to execute the approach road project, following which the state road construction department divided the work between Bihar State Road Development Corporation (BSRDC) and Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Limited (BRPNNL).
The BSRDC looks after the approach road south of the bridge, i.e. the Patna side, and the BRPNNL is responsible for the northern approach from the Sonepur side (Saran).
"Land acquisition is on," said BRPNNL project engineer Nawab Alam. "A 5km approach road will be constructed on the Sonepur side. For the initial design of the road, we required 600m of land for which 87 people are supposed to give up private land. So far, 86 people have given land. Once we get the last plot, we will start work."
Alam said that land for the remaining 4.4km would be acquired after the first 600m of the approach road is laid. "We are working in phases and people have made up their mind to give their land. We will not face problem in land acquisition. We will complete the work in a year," he said.
The train service between Patna and north Bihar districts across the Ganga has reduced the dependence of commuters on the dilapidated Gandhi Setu, which sees frequent snarls. Once the road is ready, it will be a boon for the people of Bihar because it will virtually end the dependence on Gandhi Setu, currently the only road link to the north from Patna.
Compared to the north side, work on the south end is progressing fast. There was no need of land acquisition on the south end as the land belongs to the government and the approach road is barely 2km long.
"There was no problem of land acquisition except some encroachment, which the district administration cleared last month," said a senior BSRDC official, requesting anonymity. "We have completed around 40 per cent of the work. To align the approach road with the bridge, an irrigation department building has to be demolished."
A total of Rs 76 crore would be spent on the construction of the approach road on the southern end and Rs 240 crore on the approach road on the north. The railways has already completed the road over the main bridge.
"According to the speed of work, we will complete the approach road work by August this year," said the BSRDC official. "However, unless the north side portion gets ready, vehicles cannot run over the rail-cum-road bridge."
