A detailed project report (DPR) has pegged the estimated cost of the new eight-lane Gandhi Setu at Rs 3,600 crore. The third bridge over river Ganga would run parallel to the existing 5.575-km Gandhi Setu on its west.

Road construction department minister Nand Kishore Yadav, while interacting with the press in his official chamber on Thursday, said: "The DPR for the new Gandhi Setu is ready. Once the state government sanctions the final alignment by next month, the department would give the go-ahead too."

The DPR is a document that gives out all details in case of a bridge project - length of the bridge, its type, number of pillars, type of superstructure and approach roads among other things. It mentions the cost involved in different components of a given project.

The existing Gandhi Setu is the only bridge over river Ganga connecting Patna with north Bihar. However, the Digha-Sonepur rail-cum-road bridge but that does not cater to commuters' needs.

The restructuring of Gandhi Setu, which is in progress, entails dismantling of the Setu superstructure and replacing it with a steel structure. On July 22, 2016, the Union cabinet had approved rehabilitation of the Setu at an estimated cost of Rs 1,742.01 crore.

The western flank is being dismantled, forcing one-way traffic regulations in force.

According to department sources, the existing bridge would be used for traffic from Patna to Hajipur and the new bridge would be used for those Patna-bound traffic from Hajipur or vice-versa.

Nand Kishore expressed happiness that the new Gandhi Setu would not face the problem of land acquisition like the six-lane Kachhi Dargah-Bidupur bridge. "The best part of the new Gandhi Setu is that we do not need to acquire any land."

The new Gandhi Setu project is part of the announcement that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made in his Rs 1.25 lakh crore package for Bihar. The Centre will shoulder the entire bill for the new bridge. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will construct it. The road construction department will soon hold a meeting with the NHAI to discuss its further plan over the new bridge.

Department sources added that work on its construction will start by the end of 2017 and will be completed in four years.

In the long run, it is expected that the new Gandhi Setu will be completed before the six-lane old Gandhi Setu because this project is being totally taken care by the Centre, whereas the Kachchi-Dargah to Bidupur bridge involves a state share of Rs 2,000 crore.

Road construction department officials have been instructed to make a road map to connect all district headquarters. "All district headquarters would be connected with four lanes, all sub-divisional headquarters would be connected with two lanes from district headquarters and all the block headquarters would be connected to sub-divisional headquarters. This step is being taken under the connectivity programme in Bihar," said Nand Kishore.

The minister has given instructions to the department engineers to plan and carry out the survey after the report is submitted. It has been the Nitish government's dream that Patna becomes accessible from any district in five hours.