Will Bihar Assembly elections change things for its lifeline Patna pul?

It was in December 2012 that this correspondent first heard of Patna pul. As I had ventured into a state that most reporters from Delhi had seldom reported from (except during elections), there was not much help available to figure out the travel and logistics. It was my first trip to Bihar to cover the migration and remittance economy from Siwan and Gopalganj to West Asia, and I was sounded off by the local contacts that there was no possible way to calculate the time it would take to reach Siwan from Patna.

It was only 150-odd kilometers but it would all depend on the Patna pul, I was told.

Patna Pul sounded like some divine entity on whose benevolence the journey depended on. And, I soon discovered its enigma. Indeed, my journey completely depended on the bridge!

As we moved out of Patna city, the lining up of vehicles - cars, buses, trucks, tempos, rickshaws - announced that we were entering Patna pul. The maddening chaos on the longest single river bridge in Asia was evident. Traffic snarls were an understatement for what we were experiencing. Our car was static. And, so were the other vehicles. It took us half an hour to possibly move a meter. And the next meter took as much. I stopped looking at the watch. In all, it took five hours to cross the 5.75-km bridge, which was undergoing repair. (I was told it was undergoing repair for eight years). Only after crossing the bridge, the actual travel to Siwan began.

Patna pul, or the Mahatma Gandhi Setu, is a bridge over the river Ganges that some believe not only connects Patna with North Bihar but is also its lifeline. In a state where travel time is calculated not by distance or kilometers but by hours, I discovered the importance of the Pul.

If you are stuck here, then you are just stuck. Stories abound of how grooms are rescued on bikes to meet the wedding muhurat, while the baaratis wait hopelessly on the bridge. People miss flights, trains, appointments, and deliver babies en route to hospitals or medical centres. It's evident enough that the common man is the sufferer, as the netas and babus speed through the bridge with the police making way for them along the wrong flank of the bridge.

During subsequent travels to the state, every year, including my trip last month to Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Samastipur and Hajipur, the politics of Patna pul unearthed. As the traffic snarls just got worse, and the never-ending repair work was still underway, one wondered why it was not accomplished in two years! There was even talk of constructing a new bridge on the river. With some clearances and sanctions already in place, some five years ago...

Two years was long enough to construct a new bridge, let alone repair it... Maybe in some other part of the world, but not Bihar!

People spoke about Nitish Kumar's apathy towards North Bihar: his strategic move to keep North Bihar under-developed by making movement of goods, services and people difficult in the region, and, thereby, giving a boost to the economy of South Bihar. Most felt it was a conscious effort by him to promote the Nalanda region - his constituency - at the cost of North Bihar, which could otherwise be a business and tourist hub.

North Bihar's business potential around towns such as Muzaffarpur, Samastipur and Darbhanga, and tourist attractions across Vaishali, Lumbini and Kesariya have not been realised due to the logistic hindrances caused by the bridge. Due to long jams, tourists hesitate to travel to Vaishali, one of the most important destinations on the Buddhist and Jain circuits. And, movement of goods is a pain to and from North Bihar, thanks to the bridge.

Such is the growing angst that Nitish Kumar is often addressed as the Chief Minister of Nalanda. Most believe that had it not been for Kumar's prime ministerial ambition, Bihar would not have suffered as much in the past five years and the bridge issue would have been solved long ago. Growing resentment due to the Patna bridge and alienation of North Bihar is leading to the growing demand of a separate state for North Bihar: Mithilanchal.

As Bihar goes to polls this year, and the BJP tries to make serious inroads in the state, it would be interesting to see if Kumar will be able to integrate the people of North Bihar by repairing their lifeline - the Patna pul - and become the CM of one of the poorest states in India again. The state can surely benefit from tourist and business revenues that North Bihar can bring in.