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For Bihta elevated road land project, NHAI seeks Patna officials help

2023-02-20

To begin field work on the long-delayed elevated road project, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has requested the Patna district administration to clear encroachment on the current Danapur-Bihta route and assure possession of enough right of work (RoW). Ashoka Buildcon was given the job earlier by the National Highways Authority of India to construct Rs. 30 billion four-lane elevated and at grade road from Danapur to Parev via Bihta. The necessary land is not in the ownership and cannot be encroached upon, hence construction has not yet begun.

The 20-kilometer Danapur to Bihta stretch, which is part of a 25-kilometer project, will be constructed on an elevated base. More than 65 encroachers on the current Danapur Bihta road (in two lanes) have been found, according to a senior NHAI officer. The road is roughly 80 feet wide, although expansion has caused some spots for it to become only 45 feet wide. According to the spokesman, the district government is currently surveying the area for transfer, which might take three to four months at the current rate.

Prior to the 2015 Bihar assembly elections, the road project was approved by the union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH), along with the Koilwar-Buxar stretch, as part of the PM package to Bihar. The project's updated budget was approved in 2020. The four-lane Koilwar-Buxar route is now available for traffic, however construction on the Danapur-Bihta road has not yet started.

In order to speed up the transfer of railway land, NHAI officials met with State Chief Secretary, Amir Subhani to discuss the excessive delay in land acquisition. As the NHAI agreed to alter the elevated road design close to the divisional railway manager office, the railways made the decision to transfer around 10 acres of land.