Patna: CM Samrat Choudhary on Monday urged the Centre to expedite approval and funding for road projects worth more than Rs 15,000 crore aimed at improving connectivity across Bihar during a meeting with Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi.Officials from the Centre and the state reviewed the progress of national highways, expressways and ongoing road projects, besides discussing detailed project reports (DPRs) for proposed roads and bridges.Among the proposals is the widening of the 89-km Arwal-Biharsharif national highway at an estimated cost of Rs 3,844 crore. The road construction department has also submitted a DPR worth Rs 8,672 crore for the 146-km Ram Janaki Path connecting Mashrakh, Chakia and Bhitthamod.Another DPR, estimated at Rs 974 crore, covers the Satighat bridge and road packages from Barbigha to Panjwara under the NH-333A corridor. “As soon as approval is received from the Centre, work on this project will be started,” a road construction department official said.The state has also sought more than Rs 2,200 crore for bypasses around Bettiah, Samastipur and Aurangabad, besides two bridges and a bypass on the Kamla river near Jaynagar in Madhubani district.Road construction department secretary Pankaj Kumar Pal said new railway overbridges are planned at Dumraon, Bikramganj, Safiasarai and Jehanabad to ease traffic congestion.
