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Patna,(BiharTimes): Though officials concede that the absence of proper traffic control and management, especially due to the panchayat election, were largely responsible for a week-long maha-jam right from Mahatma Gandhi Setu to Zero Mile of Patna to Bakhtiarpur, the home town of the chief minister Nitish Kumar, Bihar’s road construction department minister, Nand Kishore Yadav, on Thursday put all the blames on the Centre. |
He argues that as the Centre failed to convert the National Highway-30 from Patna to Bakhtiarpur from two-lane to four-lane as sought by the then Rabri Devi government in 2004 it is responsible for the 40-km long jam, which took place in 2011.
He said that the Centre’s decision not to give its sanction to the four-laning of select National Highways (NHs) as well as repair of Mahatma Gandhi Setu at Patna and Rajendra Setu at Mokama has led to chaotic situation.
The minister conceded that the Centre ignored the four-laning proposal of the then state government. Now it has given its clearance to the four-laning of a few roads, but it is in a manner that defies logic, he added.
The minister also alleged that the Union surface transport ministry had been clearing the repair of Mahatma Gandhi Setu in a piecemeal manner, which is unlikely to yield long-term benefit. The department had suggested in 2008 that the superstructure of the bridge be changed, since the pillars are in good condition.
The minister went on to tell the mediapersons that had the Centre agreed to the state government’s suggestions regarding four-laning of the select NHs, including the Patna-Bakhtiarpur section, along with change in superstructure of the Mahatma Gandhi Setu, then Patna would have been spared of traffic jams being witnessed now.
He disclosed that later this month he would go to Delhi to hold a detailed discussion in this regard.
Incidentally, he said so on the day CM Nitish Kumar was in New Delhi to take up the issue of acute power shortage and more fund for roads of Bihar, especial rural roads.
Nand Kishore Yadav said that the Centre had selected NH-31, for four-laning from Bakhtiarpur to Khagaria, but not the section that falls between Khagaria and Purnia while it has sanctioned four-laning from Purnia to Kishanganj. A similar pattern is seen with regard to other NHs.
It needs to be recalled that only the other day the chief minister Nitish Kumar said that the repair work on the rail-cum-road Rajendra Bridge between Mokamah and Barauni should have started “during the time of election”.
The big question the citizens are now asking is what the state government on its part was doing all these years.
Why the issue of early repair of rail-cum-road Rajendra Bridge over Ganga not raised if it was in such a precarious condition?
What Nand Kishore Yadav failed to understand is that no one is prepared to accept the fact that the Centre is now responsible for jams on the streets of Bihar.
He needs to be reminded that only on Tuesday Sasaram town, about 300 km from Rajendra Bridge in Mokama witnessed a day long jam. Should Manmohan Singh be blamed for it?
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