Government approves Rs 1,955-crore road link project

A highway project worth Rs 1,955 crore for construction of a road link between Sahibganj in Jharkhand to Manihari in Bihar, including a bridge on the Ganges, received Cabinet clearance on Thursday.

"The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the construction of a new link between Sahibganj bypass in Jharkhand to Manihari bypass in Bihar, including a four-lane bridge on river Ganga," an official statement said.

The cost is estimated to be Rs 1,954.77 crore, including cost of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities. The total length of the road to be developed is approximately 22 kms.

The job will be executed in hybrid annuity Mode, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said, adding that the concession period is 19 years, including a construction period of four years.

The new link road will be approximately 16 km long, starting (from Sahibganj Pass in Jharkhand) to another six-km stretch near Narenpur (junction of NH-133B and NH-131A on Manihari bypass in Bihar). This stretch also includes a four-lane bridge on the Ganga.

The project, the government said, will help expedite improvement of infrastructure in Bihar and Jharkhand and also reduce the time and cost of travel in these states. The development of this stretch is also expected to help uplift socio-economic conditions of people of this region in the state.

It would also increase employment potential for local labourers for project activities.

"It has been estimated that a total number of 4,076 mandays are required for construction of one kilometre of highway. As such, employment potential of 89,000 (approximately) mandays will be generated locally during the construction period of this stretch," it said.

The new project highway is a new formation of the missing link at NH-131A to NH-133B connecting Sahibganj in Jharkhand and Manihari in Bihar.

At present, there is a missing link between Jharkhand to Bihar as there is no bridge on the Ganga at this point.

The vehicular traffic uses Vikramshila Setu at Bhagalpur on Farakka barrage, which means covering a long distance for destinations in North Bihar.