Patna: To decongest vehicular traffic and ease pedestrian movement in and around the state capital, the Bihar government on Thursday approved several schemes including an integrated movement circuit with underpasses, flyovers, elevated sections among others in the city.
Informing about the integrated movement circuit, Principal Secretary, Cabinet Coordination Department, Shishir Kumar Sinha said, "It has been named Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Path Chakra and will cost Rs 391.48 crore. It will encompass four important junctions from Lalit Bhawan to Boring Road on Bailey Road and is going to be the first of its kind in the country. It will totally decongest traffic in the area."
Sinha said the circuit would contain multi-underpasses, flyovers, elevated sections, extra-dosed cable-stayed structure, pavements, pedestrian crossings, software controlled solar lights, landscaping and an integrated drainage system.
Work would start after tenders and other related processes were complete, he said.
Focusing on easing of traffic on the damaged Mahatma Gandhi Setu over the Ganga, which connects Patna with Hajipur in Vaishali district and considered as the lifeline between North and South Bihar, the cabinet also approved two pontoon bridges parallel to it at a cost of Rs 89 crore.
These pontoon bridges would be three km long and would help divert traffic from the bridge over the Ganga, Sinha said adding, the project would also include maintenance and removal of the bridge before the Monsoons.
The cabinet also approved a Rs 1,231 crore project to construct approach routes and connectivity for a rail-cum-road bridge between Digha and Sonepur on the Patna side and Rs 245 crore on the Sonepur side.
Sinha said the cabinet accorded administrative approval for constructing a 1.27 km-long flyover at a cost of Rs 166 crore to connect two road over bridges (ROB) at Yarpur and Mithapur.
Similarly, Rs 103 crore was approved for a project regarding drainage works, improvement, maintenance and strengthening work of a 36 km-long stretch on National Highway 106 between Didarganj on the outskirts of the state capital to Bakhtiyarpur in Patna district.
The cabinet decided to provide discount in immovable property registration fee and stamp duty if they were registered in the name of women, Sinha said, adding, the move was intended to increase women ownership of property in the state.
It also approved the Bihar Road Safety Policy-2015 aimed at developing accident information system, quick medical response and cutting down road deaths, he said.
The hour-long cabinet meeting approved Rs 300 crore for the Chief Minister bicycle scheme, dress scheme, scholarships and health scheme for primary, middle, high schools and universities from the Bihar Contingency Fund.
During the meeting, the state government also approved Rs 25 crore and released Rs 6 crore to IIT-Patna as a matching grant for central government's Electronics System Design and Manufacturing Incubation Centre.
