The Centre has taken over the responsibility of construction of the second bridge over the Teesta at Sevoke as a substitute for the iconic Coronation Bridge from the state public works department, which had already prepared a detailed project report after being asked to execute the project initially, said sources.

The transfer of the project to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has come as another embarrassment for the Bengal government after the Centre took over the maintenance of NH10’s Bengal leg from the state PWD in October 2024. NH10 connects the northern part of Siliguri to Gangtok in Sikkim.

“The Centre had recently informed the Bengal government that the second bridge over the Teesta would be constructed by the NHAI. The intimation came soon after the state PWD had submitted a DPR with an estimated project cost of ₹1,125 crore. The DPR was submitted about two months ago after the PWD had secured the state government’s consent for the project that had been approved in 2021,” said a senior state government official.

The new bridge over the Teesta would run parallel to the existing railway bridge in Sevoke and would have four lanes with a combined width of 14 metres. The new bridge has been planned to shed the load on the Coronation Bridge commissioned in 1941.

“The need to build the new bridge was felt as the vehicle load on the narrow 6.7-metre 84-year-old bridge was gradually increasing. Further, as the area is strategically important because of its proximity to the China border, a new bridge is required to improve the connectivity,” said an official.

Sources in Nabanna said although the Union ministry of roads, transport and highways (Morth) did not mention any reason behind the decision, it was being assumed that delay in the acquisition of land for several national highway projects being carried out by the state PWD had triggered the move.

The decision, officials said, would hurt the morale of the state PWD that had worked hard to prepare the DPR and secure all required clearances, including environmental clearance.

Besides, this would not send a positive message about the state government trying hard to draw big-ticket investments to Bengal ahead of the 2026 polls.

Moreover, the state PWD will lose the eight per cent agency commission.

Recently, the Union minister for roads, transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari, had written to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, asking her to take initiatives to acquire land at the earliest for 20 national highway projects being executed by the state PWD.

“I have been informed that in West Bengal, nine projects are under DPR stage and 11 projects costing Rs 8,003.14 crore under different stages of implementation. However, these projects are facing substantial delays due to pending approvals from district authorities for critical activities like land acquisition, forest clearance, utility shifting etc,” Gadkari wrote in his letter dated December 17, 2024.

Sources said it was also found that the land acquisition process was relatively smooth in the case of projects being undertaken by the NHAI.

“The NHAI has taken up laying of two Greenfield National Highways that would run through the state — from Varanasi to Calcutta and from Kharagpur to Moregram, where a huge quantity of land is being acquired. So, the Centre might have an impression that if the project is undertaken by the NHAI, it would be easy to get land for the second Teesta bridge and there won’t be further delay,” said a source.