Bihar to get its own Marine Drive

The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar has given its go-ahead to a Rs 2,100 crore driveway project that will recreate Mumbai’s Marine Drive along the Ganga and serve as an arterial road for the city. The project will be dovetailed with the state’s plan for at least two large bridges on the Ganga in Bihar. Patna has only one viaduct over the river at present to help people cross over but it often gets choked due to traffic. “This driveway will be built on the public-private partnership model. It will me more than just a fancy boulevard. Many firms have expressed interest in this project,” said Bihar road construction department secretary Pratyay Amrit. “We have already conducted feasibility studies for the driveway. We are now in the process of preparing a detailed project report. Our estimate is it will cost around Rs 2,100 crore,” he said. The driveway will be built along a 21.2-km stretch between Digha Ghat and Didarganj in Patna’s north.