Whitewashing walls of 'bridge with no approach roads' has nothing to do with CM's visit: Muzaffarpur DM

Muzaffarpur (Bihar): Ahead of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's scheduled visit to Muzaffarpur, images of workers whitewashing walls of a "bridge constructed over Burhi Gandak river with no approach roads" going viral on social media, the district administration on Sunday said the work has nothing to do with the CM's visit.

With people linking the whitewashing of the bridge to Kumar's scheduled visit to Muzaffarpur district on December 27 as part of his 'Pragati Yatra' to review ongoing development projects, District Magistrate Subrata Sen told PTI that the whitewashing of the walls of the bridge has nothing to do with the CM's visit.

"I don’t know why it is being connected with the CM's scheduled visit to the district on December 27. There is no plan of the CM to visit the area at all. The concerned contractor must be getting the work (whitewashing) done. The district administration has no information about it," the DM said.

He, however, said, "It is true that the entire project has not been completed so far…. Only the bridge over Burhi Gandak river in Chandwara village has been completed without approach roads. The BRPNNL has already intensified the process for the acquisition of land for approach roads and the entire project will be completed in 2025..." The project will not only ease the traffic congestion in Muzaffarpur but will also reduce the distance between Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga, the DM added.

According to officials of the Musahri sub-division, the foundation stone of the bridge was laid by the CM in 2014-2015 and the entire project of Rs 45 crore, including approach roads, was supposed to be completed by 2017-208. Now officials of the Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Ltd (BRPNNL), have begun steps to acquire land for the approach roads for Chandwara bridge. The construction work of the main bridge of around 130 metre in length has already been completed several years ago without approach roads.

Meanwhile, reacting to the delay in the completion of the above project, Mrityunjay Tiwary, RJD (Bihar unit) spokesperson, told PTI, "The inordinate delay in the completion of this project has exposed tall claims of Nitish Kumar, who is on his Pragati Yatra these days. This is the perfect example of the hollowness of the NDA government's tall claims of development in Bihar".