NH-31 repair work begins in Nawada

NAWADA: Road construction department (RCD) minister Nand Kishore Yadav on Saturday inaugurated the commencement of repair work on the 107km stretch of NH-31 between Rajauli and Bakhtiarpur. The project will cost the government Rs 50 crore.
Such was the discontent among the citizens that Yadav, who was accompanied by Union minister Giriraj Singh, BJP MLAs Anil Singh (Hisua), Aruna Devi (Warisaliganj), Nawada DM and a host of politicians and officials, avoided visiting Rajauli and laid the foundation stone of the project at Kendua on the outskirts of Nawada.
Even the Nawada district administration officials avoided travelling to Rajauli via the NH-31 due to the extremely dangerous condition of the road. They instead used Nawada-Hisua-Narhat-Sirdalla route to reach Rajauli.
The RCD minister said the repair work would be carried out by three agencies and completed by June this year.
The 36km stretch between Nawada and Rajauli on NH-31, linking Bihar and Jharkhand states, had become practically incommunicable and a veritable death trap for the people due to emergence of innumerable craters, nearly 3 feet in depth.
Even for two-wheelers, the road had become a nightmare. During PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Patna and Mokama on the occasion of Patna University’s centenary celebrations in October, Union minister Giriraj Singh had assured the people in the presence of surface transport minister Nitin Gadkari that the 130km road between Rajauli and Patna would be converted into a four-lane road with an expenditure of Rs 70 crore. As the promise proved hollow, posters promising cash awards of Rs 11,000 to those who can trace out the “missing” Union minister and Nawada BJP MP Giriraj Singh sprung up a few days ago and could be still seen plastered on walls, trees and electric poles in Rajauli and Sirdalla blocks.