New Delhi, Jul 31 (UNI) Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs Nitin Gadkari on Friday called upon the political leadership of Bihar to consider adopting river transport in a big way, as it is a cheaper and environment-friendly mode.
Inaugurating the upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga through video-conferencing in Bihar, Mr Gadkari said by adopting river transport for commercial activities, the governments and business community can easily bring down its logistic cost. This will help the economy to come out of slumber also, he added.
This over 5.5 km four lane bridge lies at NH-19 between Patna and Hajipur. It is being constructed at a cost of Rs 1742 crore, said a statement issued by the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways.
It involves replacement of the existing concrete superstructure of old bridge by new steel deck superstructure. Work on this bridge was started in June 2017. The bridge is schedule to be completed in two parts. Upstream lane has been completed in July, 2020.
Thereafter, the downstream lane shall be taken up and will be completed by 2021. The new steel superstructure consisting of about 6600 metric steel is being provided by replacing old existing distressed concrete superstructure.
This is a new type of work being executed in India for the first time. Beneficiary districts on the Northern Side include Hajipur, Chappra, Muzzafarpur, Samastipur, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Sitamarhi, Siwan and Eastern UP.
On the Southern side - Patna, Aara, Arwal, Jahanabad, Nalanda, Gaya, Aurangabad and Jharkhand.
Inaugurating the upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga through video conference in Bihar, Mr Gadkari said, this is the first ever bridge using modern technology for improving the existing structure.
Calling it an engineering marvel, he said it can be a good case study for civil engineering students. He announced a new bridge over river Ganga in Patna, which will be five km long, with larger spans to facilitate movement of ships under it.
He said its tender will be out next month, and the work will start soon. It will cost about Rs 3,000 crore.
The function was presided over by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Union Ministers--Ram Vilas Paswan and Ravi Shankar Prasad, MoS Gen (Retd) V K Singh, Ashwini Kumar Choubey and Nityanand Rai, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, State RCD Minister Nand Kishore Yadav, members of Parliament Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Ram Kripal Yadav, Pashupati Kumar Paras and Veena Devi, senior officers of central government and from the State government attended the function.
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