East to west along Indo-Nepal border: the mother of all roads in Bihar by 2016!
Champaran - Kishanganj: 2016!
Patna: only someone from Bihar or Nepal may have faced the utter inconvenience of travelling from Champaran in Bihar to Kishanganj in the west-east [or east-west] direction. This would be a journey with many breaks and comparable to a trek from Imphal to Orissa. So imagine a road cutting straight between the two extremes of Bihar – this will truly be the mother of all roads in this part of the country. Just in case the practical considerations seem the only ones, now imagine the strategic significance of a border road running the entire breadth of the Nepal terai and it becomes clear the road would be a boon for the entire country.
As for some bonus – would a manifold increase in trade between India and Nepal would do? But aren’t we forgetting the massive employment opportunities all the border areas too?
The Bihar Government has sanctioned Rs 2,552.86 crore for construction of a 552.3 km two-lane road project on the Indo-Nepal border running parallel to the East-West Corridor. The Principal Secretary (Cabinet Coordination and Secretariat), Mr Ravikant, said that the decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting, presided over by the Chief Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar.
He said that the sanctioned amount will be spent on construction of culverts and bridges, land acquisition, utility shifting and environment clearance for the road project. He further informed that the remainder of the road project cost of Rs 3,557 crore will be released in due course of time. While the State Government will bear 53.3 per cent of the cost of the road project, the remaining 46.7 per cent cost will be borne by the Central Government.
The road project, spread over East Champaran, West Champaran, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Supaul, Araria and Kishanganj districts, will be completed by 2015-16. Mr Pratyaya Amrit, Secretary (Road), said that the project will be undertaken with full budgetary support of the Central Government and the State Government will boost security in the districts along the Indo-Nepal border by improving road connectivity at various check-posts.
The tender for the project related work has been floated and the actual work will begin around November this year.