Nitish lays foundation stones for urban infra projects worth ₹2,616 cr

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar launched 55 urban infrastructure projects, including the renovation of the Saidpur drainage network in Patna, worth ₹2,355.96 crore.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday laid foundation stones for various urban infrastructure projects across the state, including the renovation of long-awaited Saidpur drainage network in Patna, virtually at a function held at the Integrated Control and Command Centre (ICCC).

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar inspects Saidpur drain in Patna on Saturday. (Santosh Kumar/HT)

Work on a total of 55 projects, including those of storm water drainage networks, crematoriums and water supply schemes worth ₹2,355.96 crore, was launched by the CM in presence of his deputy Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, who holds the urban development and housing department (UDHD) portfolio. Finance minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary was also present during the event.

All the schemes will be executed by the Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation (Buidco), the engineering arm of the UDHD.

According to a Buidco official, the renovation of Saidpur Nala project envisages building a 5.61-km-long two-lane road on one of the oldest open drains of the capital city. The road on drain will connect Pahari with Gaighat, meandering through various localities of Patna. A sum of ₹259.81 crore would be spent on it.

A senior officer of the UDHD said the detailed project report (DPR) of the Saidpur Nala project had to be delayed owing to territorial and administrative disputes between the UDHD and the road construction department (RCD) for the past several months. The RCD is supposed to build the road on the drain.

Storm water drainage in Patna

According to Buidco, a major share of the fund would be spent on building urban infrastructure such as storm water drainage system in Patna. “The CM has laid the foundation stone on as many as 10 storm water drainage network in Patna worth ₹1,283 crore. A sum of ₹586.44 crore would be spent on six storm water drainage network and water supply system in six towns. The rest ₹226.72 crore would be spent on building crematoriums in 38 urban local bodies across 36 districts under the Chief Minister Saath Nischaya-2 scheme,” said a communique from the chief minister’s office.

Additional chief secretary (ACS) and principal secretary to the chief minister, S Siddharth, ACS (UDHD) Arunish Chawla and Buidco managing director Dharmendra Singh were also present on the occasion.