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    Modi promises 23 bridges over rivers in Bihar, Nitish says Patna to be reachable from anywhere in Bihar in 5 hours

    Synopsis

    Prime Minister Modi said on Monday that large rivers in Bihar have been a major challenge to connectivity and deputy CM Sushil Modi said little was done till 2005, including during 15 years of the Lalu Prasad regime, to make bridges over the rivers.

    Modi---bccl
    NEW DELHI: Bihar will be networked with 23 bridges over the Ganga and Kosi rivers, with a bridge over rivers in the state after every 25 kilometres on average, and Patna will soon be reachable within five hours from anywhere in the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar promised in the run-up to the assembly polls.

    Prime Minister Modi said on Monday that large rivers in Bihar have been a major challenge to connectivity and deputy CM Sushil Modi said little was done till 2005, including during 15 years of the Lalu Prasad regime, to make bridges over the rivers. “Since Independence, over 53 years only four bridges were made over the Ganga river and just one of them was made under Lalu Prasad rule. Under Nitish rule, a bridge in Aarah over the Ganga has been built while six more bridges are being built by Bihar government now and six more bridges over Ganga will be built by the Centre. Hence, Ganga river will have a total of 17 bridges soon,” said Sushil Modi.

    Similarly, he said, only one bridge was made over the Kosi river in Bihar since Independence while three bridges have been made under the Nitish Kumar government. “Now, two more bridges will be built – one by the Centre and one by us. Kosi river hence will also have six bridges in all,” he said.

    Chief minister Nitish Kumar said that with these bridges and the widening of six highways in the state, which will start now, his earlier target of reaching Patna from any part of the state will be reduced from six hours to five hours.

    On Monday, the PM laid the foundation stone of nine road projects, including three new bridges over the Ganga and Kosi.

    The PM said the nine projects were worth Rs 14,000 crore and part of the Rs 1.25 lakh crore package announced by him for Bihar about four years ago. He said the Patna ring road, the bridge parallel to Mahatma Gandhi Setu and Vikramshila Setu in Patna and Bhagalpur respectively, and a new bridge over Kosi in Phalaut, will speed up the connectivity in the state.

    Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD took a swipe at BJP, saying these projects had been in the works since 2015 and that tenders for them had been issued on various occasions before earlier by-elections in the state.


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