Bihar CM inaugurates Rs 263-crore bridge on Gandak river near Sattarghat

PATNA: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Tuesday inaugurated two major projects of the road construction department (RCD) including a high-level RCC bridge on Gandak River at Sattarghat under Kesaria block of East Champaran district through video-conferencing from the chief minister office’s ‘Samvad’ hall here.
The bridge, constructed at a cost of Rs 263.48 crore, has reduced road distance between different towns of East Champaran to Gopalganj, Siwan and Saran districts.
The CM also inaugurated a newly-built bypass road along with two road overbridges (total construction cost Rs 146.31 crore) in Lakhisarai town and laid foundation stones for another bypass road in Sasaram. The proposed bypass road in Sasaram (from Beda to Moker) will be constructed at a cost of Rs 122.39 crore.
He also inaugurated Kunder barrage construction scheme in Lakhisarai district’s Chanan block and four other irrigation schemes in Suryagarha block through video-conferencing from the same venue.
Addressing the function, the CM regretted for not visiting the site of Sattarghat bridge or Lakhisarai bypass for their on-the-spot inauguration due to the situation caused by the covid-19 pandemic.
“I had gone to Sattarghat to lay the foundation stones of the bridge in 2012. It is not good that I am not there for the inauguration of the same bridge. I do not like inaugurating such major projects through video conferencing. I like to go among people and visit the construction sites because it provides me a chance to inspect the quality of work before their formal inauguration,” Nitish said and also announced that henceforth no major project would be inaugurated through video-conferencing.
The CM further asked the chief secretary Deepak Kumar to make all necessary arrangements for on-the-spot inauguration of new projects, while following the Centre’s guidelines for social distancing. “From now onwards, please do not request me to inaugurate any completed project from here. Take me to the project sites. When I will visit the site, I will inspect whether there are any shortcomings in the construction,” Nitish told the chief secretary.
The CM said the state government not only constructs the roads and bridges but also gives attention to their regular maintenance. He said the state government has a separate maintenance policy for the RCD and rural works department’s roads.
He also announced construction of a 23.5 KM long new road from Barahiya to Suryagarha via Khuthan at a cost of Rs 50 crore. “The RCD has already prepared a detailed project report (DPR) for this road. Now, they will start its construction,” CM said.
Lauding the water resources department for completing several irrigation schemes in Lakhisarai district, CM reiterated that he would provide irrigation water to each farm land across the state, if people of the state give him another chance to serve.