Centre’s approves 65-km-long Patna Ring Road. Here’s more!

The much-awaited Patna Ring Road has received the Centre’s approval. The Centre has also decided to fund the Danapur-Bihta elevated road. According to reports, a decision to start the bidding process for the project will soon be reached upon. The proposed alignment of the Patna Ring Road is Bihta-Naubatpur-Dumri-Daniyawan- Kachchi Dargah-Bidupur-Hajipur-Sonepur-Digha-Bihta. The 65-km-long ring is expected to be four or six-lane wide, with an expenditure of Rs 15 billion. After the state government approved the alignment of the ring road, a consultant was appointed to draft a detailed project report (DPR). In case of the Danapur-Bihta elevated road, it will be built on the alignment of the existing road. The state government will pay for land acquisition of the project, whereas the Centre will bear the cost of building the road. The project was reportedly marred by a cloud of uncertainties because of the high cost in constructing an elevated road. While per kilometer cost for a four-lane road is Rs 200 million, for an elevated road it goes up to Rs 1 billion. Previously, NHAI was to execute the construction of the 20-km-long four-lane elevated road to facilitate connectivity to a civil enclave, which is supposed to be built at the Bihta airbase of the Indian Air Force, but the responsibility has now been passed over to the state government for execution. According to reports, a proposal to construct a bridge parallel to the Mahatma Gandhi Setu has also been suggested. The state government will reportedly begin the process of bidding to finalise the contracting agency. The Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways is expected to fund the project.