Upcoming bridges to come as boon for Begusarai residents

BEGUSARAI: With a six-lane road bridge under construction at Simaria and announcement of another new bridge over Ganga connecting Shamho and Matihani in Begusarai, the New Year has ushered in hope of better road connectivity for commuters in the district.
Union ministry of road transport and highways has recently already announced that the detailed project report (DPR) for the new bridge is being prepared and the bidding process for the same is expected to be initiated later this year.
The new bridge will connect Shamho to Matihani and is expected to reduce a distance of over 50km between the two places. Rajya Sabha member Rakesh Sinha, who is a native of Begusarai, recently said that the proposed bridge will not only facilitate road connectivity to the remote Shamho region but also give access to markets to farmers in the district.Shamho has no direct road link with the district headquarters. People in the block have to take Lakhisarai-Simaria route to come to Begusarai, traversing more than 70km. The two upcoming bridges apart, the bottlenecks in construction of approach roads on both ends of road deck of Munger rail- cum-road bridge is also reported to have been removed.
Begusarai DM Arvind Kumar Verma told this newspaper recently that National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been given possession of the land for construction of the approach roads for the Munger bridge.
Locals are hopeful that all these bridges will not only facilitate better and wider network of road communication but also bolster business and economic activities in the region with easy connectivity to Munger and Lakhisarai districts. “I am eagerly waiting for the completion of the ongoing projects as well as start of the new projects as once operational these bridges would give wider accessibility to the markets,” said Diwakar Kumar, a Begusarai- based trader, who runs an authorized workshop for a mobile phone company here.