The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has proposed the alignment of another expressway that would run from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh to Siliguri, West Bengal via Bihar. The authority would prepare the detailed project report once the greenfield alignment is approved by the Bihar government, said a senior officer familiar with the proposal.
Chief general manager, NHAI, Patna regional office, Sadre Alam said that they had submitted the portion of alignment of Gorakhpur-Siliguri expressway, passing through various districts of Bihar, to the road construction department (RCD) for discussion and approval early this month. “A formal discussion with senior RCD officials is, however, awaited,” said Alam.
RCD minister Nitin Nabin said the proposal to build a new 650km expressway from Gorakhpur to Siliguri was in the initial stage of implementation. “It is great to know that the Union ministry of road transport and highways has been keen to boost road infrastructure in the state. If the proposal gets the Centre’s approval, the people of Bihar would benefit from it. It would ease the vehicular traffic from east to west part of the state,” said Nabin.
