Nitish lays foundation of Patna's 'marine drive'

The Bihar government has built more than 12,000 bridges and over 25,000 km of roads to develop an efficient communication network in the state, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said today.
"Our efforts are to provide better road links and faster mode of communication to the rural areas to spur their economic growth," Kumar said after laying the foundation stone of a four-lane Ganga pathway considered as Patna's "marine drive".
Our attempt is to provide roads to farmers who can come to markets with their produce and get a handsome income, he said, while addressing people after the start of work on the 21.5 km pathway which would connect Digha to Didarganj in Patna district along River Ganga.

The project, talked about as an engineering marvel, would decongest traffic in the state capital, he said.
Considering the fact that work on the ambitious project was starting on the birth anniversary of socialist leader Jayprakash Narayan, Kumar named the project as "Loknayak Ganga Path."
Speaking on the occasion, Bihar State Road Development Corporation (BSRDC) managing director Pratya Amrit said the pathway would be completed in four years time and at a cost of Rs 3,747 crore.

HUDCO has provided a loan of Rs 2,000 crore for the project, while the state government would be giving Rs 1,160 crore for it, he said.

"The proposed Ganga Path has been designed as a high speed corridor with excellent riding conditions and provision of allied facilities in addition to planned riverfront development activities," Amrit said, adding the project will have world class facilities like noise barriers and fencing, street lighting, pedestrian facilities, landscaping and tree plantation, and traffic and medical aid posts among others.
The work of the project has been awarded to Navayuga Engineering Company (NEC), a flagship company of the Rs 250 billion Navayuga group.
Chief Secretary A K Sinha, JD (U) MLA Poonam Devi and Raghopur MLA Satish Kumar also spoke on the occasion.