PATNA: The newly inducted road construction (RCD) minister, Nitin Nabin, announced on Friday that a ‘Bihar Road Master Plan’ is on the drawing board to chalk out the construction of roads and bridges over the next 20 years in the state.
Nabin said the master plan would be ready in six months and it will provide alternative routes in the cities and focus on six to eight cities of Bihar. “There are several big drains in the cities that can be turned into roads. For instance, a drain in Saidpur which passes through Bazar Samiti can be used for vehicular movement. A road map will come up with such alternative ideas,” said Nabin.
Cities such as Patna, Bhagalpur, Katihar, Muzaffarpur, Gaya and Katihar will be the focus, and the list will be expanded later. According to Nabin, there is 12% urbanization in the state and development of new roads will lead to the expansion of urban areas.
The RCD minister also assured that pending projects will get completed soon and action will be taken against contractors who fail to finish projects within the time frame.
The department would also provide liquidity-related relaxations due to Covid-19 to contractors as announced by the Union ministry.
Earlier, Nabin reviewed undergoing projects by the Bihar State Road Development Corporation Limited and instructed to complete major state highways like Bihiya-Jagdishpur-Piro-Bihta, Amarpur-Akbarnagar, Ghonga-Panjwara, Udakishanganj-Bhatgawa and Kadirganj-Khaira before the onset of monsoon.
Nabin also directed that work on the Digha rotary be finished before Holi, Gaya-Rajgir-Biharsharif NH-82 be completed this year and Kachchi Dargah-Bidupr Bridge by 2022 end.
The minister instructed senior officials, mainly engineers, to ensure field visits on at least two days a week.
RCD principal secretary Amrit Lal Meena told TOI that a road parallel to Bailey road, officially known as Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, from Indira Bhawan to Ashiyana-Digha Road was 50% complete and will be ready soon.
He said the Lohia Path Chakra design has been tweaked to reduce construction time and the project will now be inaugurated in December.