The proposed flyover between Kargil Chowk and Patna Science College on the contested stretch of Ashok Rajpath is set to undergo a design modification to save the heritage building of the famous Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library (KBOPL).
KBOPL, which has in its possession over 22,000 manuscripts, 3 lakh books and over 2000 rare paintings dating back to 14th Century, had objected to the road construction department’s (RCD) plan to build the flyover on Ashok Rajpath as the proposed construction required demolishing a portion of its spacious reading hall, named after the erstwhile Viceroy to India George Curzon to mark his visit to the library in 1905.
In its bid to streamline traffic flow on Ashok Rajpath between Gandhi Maidan to the existing National Institute of Technology (NIT), Patna, which houses important institutions like Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), Science College, Patna University and Patna College, chief minister Nitish Kumar had asked the RCD to build a flyover.
Accordingly, the RCD had proposed a 2.20km-long four-lane flyover in double deck from Kargil Chowk to Science College, to be built at a cost of ₹369 crore, and sought permission to acquire a portion of land of the institutions near the roadside for the new project. While the PMCH has given its no-objection to offer land to the RCD, Patna University and Urdu Library are yet to give their consent.
{{/usCountry}}Accordingly, the RCD had proposed a 2.20km-long four-lane flyover in double deck from Kargil Chowk to Science College, to be built at a cost of ₹369 crore, and sought permission to acquire a portion of land of the institutions near the roadside for the new project. While the PMCH has given its no-objection to offer land to the RCD, Patna University and Urdu Library are yet to give their consent.
{{/usCountry}}KBOPL director Shayesta Bedar, citing resolution of the board’s meeting, said essential elegance of the library and its hoary past would be obliterated if any portion of its land taken over for road construction. “We preserved the library’s reading room, which was more than a century old, even as a modern three-story building of the KBOPL was opened by President Ram Nath Kovind in 2017,” said Bedar.
KBOPL has been frequented by research scholars from across the world ever since it was opened for public in 1891 by Khuda Bakhsh, the first vice chairman of Patna Municipal Corporation and bibliophile. Acknowledging the immense historical and intellectual value of its rich and valued collection, the Government of India declared the KBOPL an Institution of National Importance by an act of Parliament in 1969. The library, an autonomous institution, is fully funded by the Ministry of Culture.
Bedar said they studied the new road proposal once the Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Limited (BRPNNL) served notice on the library to give up its land and subsequently sent their objections to the district magistrate and later to the chief minister with valid reasons.
BRPNNL had sent notices to all the institutions concerned a couple of months ago. “We hope CM Nitish Kumar, who had great sense and knowledge for history and archaeology, would understand out issues,” she said.
Additional chief secretary, RCD, Amrit Lal Meena, said he had instructed the BRPNNL to modify the design of double decker elevated road so that quintessential of the KBOPL would not be disturbed in any way.