Dhanbad: The distance between Bokaro steel city and the industrial town of Chandrapura is set to reduce to 20km from 32km soon with Bokaro MLA Viranchi Narain and Bermo MLA Yogeshwar Mahto Batul laying the foundation stone for the 10km approach roads to the 2.75km bridge over Damodar linking the two townships on Monday.

The roads will be constructed by the public works department at a cost of Rs 11.39 crore in six months.

Talking to The Telegraph over phone before the ceremony, Narain said the 10km approach roads would be divided into two parts of 2km and 8km on either side of the bridge.

He said the 2km stretch towards Chandrapura and around 8km towards Bokaro would benefit wholesale traders of Chandrapura, who were facing difficulty in visiting Dhanbad to market their products following the closure of the Dhanbad-Chandrapura rail line. They will now come to Bokaro and contribute to the growth of its market.

"Ever since my election as an MLA, there were two major tasks on my priority list. The first was construction of Garga Bridge, which was completed within six months. My second agenda was the approach roads and I am confident that this too will be completed within scheduled time," Narain said.

The bridge, which was constructed way back in 2004 at a cost of Rs 14 crore, has been lying useless in the absence of the approach roads.

The state government has provided Rs 21.90 lakh as compensation to the land losers and the distribution process has already begun.

Protests by the residents of Ranipokhar, Baidmara and Basetji villages had held up the construction of the road as they were not willing to part with their land. The state government has provided Rs 21.90 lakh as compensation to the land losers and the distribution process has already begun.

The then Bokaro DC, Manoj Kumar, had visited the site and met the villagers in December 2015 along with Narain and convinced them about the benefits of the roads.