New bridges on Ganga reduce gap in Grand Alliance on Lalu’s birthday
Patna,(BiharTimes): On the 70th birthday of RJD president Lalu Prasad, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday dedicated two road bridges over Ganga––Sonepur-Digha and Ara-Chapra––to the people of the state.
Among those present on the occasion were Lalu Prasad, education minister Ashok Chaudhary and a host of ministers and officials.
Nitish pushed the button from a remote to throw the two bridges open for traffic. They will go a long way in improve road connectivity between south and north Bihar and reduce vehicular pressure on Mahatma Gandhi Setu, which is undergoing repair.
The road distance between Ara and Chapra would come down to 20 km from about 150 km. The Sonepur-Digha bridge is 5.25 km long and is actually a rail-cum-road bridge.
The foundation of the railway bridge was laid down by the then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayeee on February 3, 2002 when Nitish Kumar was the railway minister.
However, when Lalu became the railway minister he converted it into a road-cum-rail bridge.
The 4.35 km four-lane Ara-Chapra bridge near Koilwar was given a green signal by chief minister Nitish Kumar in 2010.
The Ara-Chapra bridge and Sonepur-Digha bridge have been named after Veer Kunwer Singh and Lok Nayak Jaya Prakash Narayan respectively.
Nitish said on the occasion that he was happy to dedicate the two road bridges to the people of Bihar on a day when the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad is
celebrating his 70th birthday. He said the railway authorities should have invited Lalu Prasad on the inauguration of the rail section of the
> Sonepur-Digha rail-cum-road bridge last year as it was conceived during the latter’s stint as railway minister in 2006.
Lalu was not invited on that occasion as the bridge was thrown open by the prime minister Narendra Modi on March 12, 2016.
Lalu said that the bridges would not only reduce the distance but would go a long way in contributing to the development of Bihar. He highlighted the development works being undertaken by the Nitish Kumar government.
Chaudhary, on his part, showered praise on both Nitish and Lalu and said that road construction minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav should not feel shy in highlighting the contributions of his father. There is nothing wrong in inaugurating the bridges on the occasion of the 70th birthday of Lalu, he said while brushing aside all the opposition criticism.
The manner in which the leaders of three Grand Alliance constituents praised each other clearly indicated that the bridges would go a long way to further reduce the gap among them.
