Patna may soon have monorail service and world class driveways

Patna, Aug 21 (UNI) If the dreams of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad come true, Patna will soon have mono-rail service within the next two years.

But if the Railway Minister can dream of a big project, can Chief Minister Nitish Kumar lag far behind? He is also determined to construct a 21 km long expressway along the banks of river Ganges in the city to improve its congested traffic system.

The idea of introducing a unique monorail service on elevated platforms struck the Railway Minister during his recent trip to Kuala Lumpur where he undertook a pleasant journey on its world famous service.

In fact Mr Prasad was so impressed with the journey that he decided to send an expert team from the Indian Railways to KuaLa Lumpur to inspect the nitty-gritties of the technicalities of the monorail service there, so that the same could be introduced here to ease the city's congested traffic system to a great extent.

As per his plan, this rapid urban transport system could be introduced in and around Patna in a 20 km circular route on elevated platforms passing through all the congested localities.

Accordingly, the expert team of RITES, led by its General Manager Piyush Kushal, had already inspected the proposed sites in Patna and was reportedly preparting its report on the basis of usefulness and commercial viability of the multi-crore rupee project.

The proposed network, when completed, would connect Bhaktiarpur with the capital city via several congested localities like Bankaghat, Patna Saheb, Rajendranagar Terminal and Patna Junction.

Similarly, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also cherished a dream of constructing a 21 km long road along the banks of the mighty Ganges from Digha to Deedarganj on the line of Mumbai's famous Marine Drive to ensure driving pleasure for motorists.

If the dreams and determination of these two political opponents could ever be realities, it would come as the most useful gifts to Patnaites in terms of having the most modern and comfortable transport network in the country.

UNI JB-ABA DPM RD 1003