Why in News?

=> Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the approach road project of 'Rail-cum-Road Bridge' over river Ganga at Munger in Bihar state.

Key Points:

=> A 14.5 km long approach road has been developed at Munger for a rail-cum-road bridge constructed over river Ganga on National Highway 333B at a total cost of Rs.696 crore.

=> This 'Rail-cum-Road Bridge' is the third rail-cum-road bridge built over the river Ganga in Bihar, which will connect the cities of Munger-Jamalpur with Begusarai, Khagaria and various districts of North Bihar.

=> In 2002, the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee laid the foundation stone of the rail-cum-road bridge. The current CM of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, was the Railway Minister in the Vajpayee government at that time.

=> This bridge was being demanded for a very long time, which can be seen as follows-

=> In 1953, the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru also promised the people of Munger that a bridge would be built over the river.

=> Indira Gandhi reiterated similar assurances during an election campaign in 1971.

=> The rail-cum-road bridge finally got a token allocation (through supplementary grants) in the 1997-98 Railway Budget.

By: ASRAF UDDIN AHMED