Tejashwi meets Union min, seeks help for road projects

Patna: Bihar deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav met Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari in Delhi on Wednesday and sought his support for construction and upgradation of national highways and reconstruction of Gandhi Setu over the Ganga in Patna.
This was Tejashwi’s first official visit to the national capital after becoming deputy CM in Nitish Kumar cabinet last month. He requested the Union minister to release funds for the reconstruction of Gandhi Setu in the current fiscal year.
Coming out of the almost one-hour-long meeting at Gadkari’s office, Tejashwi termed the discussions very positive. “Bihar will develop only when there is proper coordination with the Centre and timely support of Union government to our endeavours without any prejudice,” said Tejashwi.
“We talked on various issues, including approval to upgrade 54 state highways into national highways, approval in this financial year itself for the reconstruction of Gandhi Setu, for which around Rs 2,800 crore is required,” Tejashwi added.
Some of the important national highway projects discussed during the meeting included Patna-Buxar, Patna -Dobhi, Gopalganj-Chhapra, Forbesganj-Jogbani, Chhapra-Muzaffarpur, Biharsharif-Mokama and Khagaria- Bakhtiyarpur. The bridge projects discussed include Sahibganj-Manihari over the Ganga and Fulaut-Bihpur over the Kosi.
Tejashwi said he also discussed with Gadkari the promises made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bihar during his election campaign during the assembly polls. “There is need to fulfil the promises made by the PM in the larger interests of Bihar. We need to work for fast development of the state and keep aside politics,” the deputy CM added.
Just before the announcement of assembly polls in Bihar, Modi had announced a special package of Rs 1.25 lakh crore, of which almost 40% funds was for road and bridge projects in the state.
Tejashwi also briefed Gadkari about the problems facing the state and the agencies involved in execution of road projects due to hurdles in land acquisition.