Patna: A day before he is expected to relinquish his chair, CM Nitish Kumar on Monday inspected the first section of the Patna-Bettiah Expressway under construction and asked the officials to expedite the ongoing work.The Patna-Bettiah Expressway (designated as NH-139W) is a 164-km, four-lane greenfield project designed to slash travel time between the state capital and West Champaran district from six to approximately three hours.Accompanied by senior officials, Nitish on Monday visited the Bakarpur-Manikpur section, which is the first phase of the greenfield expressway, at a village in Saran district and inspected the ongoing work.During the inspection, road construction department secretary Pankaj Kumar Pal, while briefing about the project, said work on this project, connecting Patna to Bettiah, is progressing rapidly. “The target has been set to complete the construction of its first section by April 2027. After the completion of this project, Bettiah will be easily reachable from Patna in three hours,” Pal said.
During the inspection, the CM said: “This is a major connectivity project for Bihar. The construction of this road will make travel from Patna to Bettiah easier and people will be able to reach Bettiah in less time. The completion of this greenfield project will reduce pressure on other routes.”Nitish also said, “This expressway will directly connect Vaishali, Saran, East and West Champaran districts to Patna. This will further accelerate the economic development of north Bihar.”“The total project cost of the expressway is estimated at Rs5,996 crore. The Union crecently approved the specific Sahebganj-Areraj-Bettiah section (78.94 km) at a cost of Rs3,822.31 crore. The entire length of the expressway is expected to be fully operational by 2027-2028,” an official said on Monday.“It will significantly improve access to the Buddhist Circuit, specifically linking heritage sites like the Kesariya Buddha Stupa (Sahebganj), Vishwa Shanti Stupa (Vaishali), and Someshwarnath Mandir (Areraj). The project includes three major bridges over the Gandak river, 10 flyovers, and 108 underpasses to ensure signal-free movement,” they said.The project is divided into four main packages. The Package-1 (Bakarpur to Manikpur) is 38.81km. Construction under this package began in early 2024. The Package-2 (Manikpur to Sahebganj) is 44.65km. Construction agency has been selected for this package.The Package-3 (Sahebganj to Areraj) is 39.64km. Fund for this package was recently approved by the Union cabinet. The Package-4 (Areraj to Bettiah) is 40.58km. Tender for this package was floated recently. Bidding for the work is under process.Present during the inspection were CM’s principal secretary Deepak Kumar; CM’s secretary Kumar Ravi, CM’s special officer Gopal Singh; Saran SSP Vineet Kumar; Saran deputy development commissioner Lakshman Tiwari, and senior officials of NHAI.
