Roads are 'USP' of my government: Nitish

Bihar CM says the govt has already achieved a travel time from any district headquarter except Kisanganj to Patna within six hours by building quality roads

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today described roads as the USP of his government and expressed confidence that his government would significantly reduce travel times from all districts headquarters to state capital.

"The state government has already achieved a travel time from any district headquarter except Kisanganj to Patna within six hours by building quality roads. The target for Kisanganj district would also be achieved by this year," Kumar told the Fourth foundation function of Bihar State Road Development Corporation Limited (BSRDCL) here last night.

"After completing the task, we will revise the target to less than six hours," the CM said.

The government has accorded high priority to building quality roads and the state, hitherto known for potholed paths, is earning praise for quality roads, he said.

Kumar said better roads have sped up development process in the state and his government has decided to link villages of above 250 population with all-season concrete roads.

Pratya Amrit, Roads Development Secretary and Managing Director of BSRDCL, said the corporation was entrusted with renovating 1,461 km roads of 18 state highways, of which it had completed work on 675 km and job was underway on 499 km.

Roads Development Minister Nand Kishore Yadav said the government was giving top priority to building top quality roads to connect the Buddhist circuit to promote tourism in the state.

The BSRDCL, which came into existence on April 20, 2009, has received funding from Asian Development Bank, HUDCO and other leading institutions.