New Patna-Rajgir road to half travel time: CM Nitish Kumar

PATNA: Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday asked road construction department (RCD) officials to build a wide road that will help passengers reach Rajgir, which is fast coming up as a major tourist centre, from Patna airport in 75 minutes.
The proposed 10-metre wide road will connect Rajgir with Karaunta in Patna district and shorten the distance and travel time between them.At the moment, the average travel time between the state capital and Rajgir is about two-and-a-half hours. Nitish gave the instructions to the RCD officials while inspecting road projects in Patna and Nalanda districts. He said the the RCD should use latest technology to build the road that will pass through places such as Telmar, Soradih, Noorsarai and Silao.
During his nearly six-hour tour, Nitish interacted with villagers living along the route and discussed the quality of road construction work. He also met officials and engineers engaged in road construction to know about their problems and the time they might require to finish the proposed road.
“The proposed road will link many villages and make a journy from Patna to Rajgir smooth and troble-free,” an RCD official said after the CM’s visit.
Nitish asked the RCD to complete work on the Bihta-Sarmera state highway (SH-78) near Dumri village as fast as possible. He announced that the stretch between Demri and Sarmera would be ready by May next year.
Nitish, who also inspected the construction of National Highway-30A near Daniyawan village, asked the RCD officials to link the NH flyover at Daniyawan with the Daniyawan-Hilsa-Islampur state highway (SH-04).
He suggested that NH officials construct elevated roads at Biharsharif, Harnaut, Mora Talab and Dhamauli while transforming NH-31 into a four-lane highways. He also said bypass roads should be built at Giriyak and Vena on NH-31 in Nalanda district.
After reviewing the progress of work on the Barh-Harnaut-Fatuha national highway, Nitish said almost 75% of the project had been completed. He instructed district magistrates Kumar Ravi (Patna) and Thyagrajan S M (Nalanda) to look into the problems of land acquisition that have affected the project at five places.
RCD principal secretary Amrit Lal Meena, rural works secretary Vinay Kumar and transport secretary Sanjay Kumar Agrawal accompanied Nitish during the inspection of the road projects.