Cabinet okays Rs 1,742cr to revamp Patna's Mahatma Gandhi Setu

New Delhi, Jun 22: Government today approved rehabilitation of four-lane 5.5-km long Mahatma Gandhi Setu on the river Ganga in Patna at an estimated cost of Rs 1,742 crore.

"The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the project, namely rehabilitation of four lane 5.575 km long Mahatma Gandhi Setu at NH-19 on the Ganga river at Patna in Bihar," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters here.

Stating that this proposal was pending for last 15 years, Jaitley said the rehabilitation of this bridge would help in easing the traffic woes. The proposal was also an important part of Bihar package earlier announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jaitley said.

The setu (bridge) will be constructed after dismantling the damaged pre-stressed cantilever arms superstructure and subsequent re-decking by steel truss.

The project will be in Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode and the cost is estimated to be at Rs 1,742.01 crore, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways said in a statement. The project is in Patna-Hazipur region, connecting North and South Bihar.

It will help in expediting the improvement of infrastructure in the state besides reducing time and cost of travel, particularly for heavy traffic plying between North and South Bihar.

The rehabilitation of the bridge will also help in uplifting the socio-economic condition of this region in the state. Trade with Nepal and Bhutan is also flowing through this route.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has made efforts to rehabilitate this bridge in the last 15 years but the efforts were not successful. After a lot of studies through national and foreign experts, it has now been decided that only remedy left is to dismantle the existing superstructure followed by subsequent re-decking by steel truss.

Accordingly, a detailed estimate has been prepared for rehabilitation of superstructure of the bridge in Patna.

PTI