partha chatterjee was the railway minister of bihar in 2018.
who is the railway minister of bihar in 2018?
partha chatterjee
in 2009–10, the bihar state government proposed converting the patna–digha ghat railway line into a roadway that would reduce traffic-congestion in the city. the railway ministry asked for ₹896 crores ($127 million) as value for the land it owned, and after the intervention of the patna high court, a transfer-price of ₹222 crores ($32 million) was agreed upon. on 14 june 2018, the ministry of railways gave in-principle approval for the plan, and on august 12 the land was formally transferred in a ceremony attended by railway minister piyush goyal and chief-minister of bihar, nitish kumar. the state government plans to build a four- to six-lane, 40m wide, road along the 8km route, including a flyover and an underpass. the construction for the project is expected to begin by january 2019, and be completed by mid-2021.
patna–digha ghat line
in 1996, survey work for the proposed bridge was initiated by the railways at three possible sites – digha–sonepur, gulzarbagh–hajipur and ict ghat–sonepur. ram vilas paswan was then the union railway minister and he lent his support to the gulzarbagh-hajipur site, as hajipur was the constituency from which he was elected. lalu prasad yadav, then chief minister of bihar, lent his support to the digha–sonepur site. in the wake of the conflicting support of the political heavy weights, disturbances broke out at sonepur. one person was shot dead. many experts opined in favour of building the rail bridge adjacent to the mahatma gandhi setu, the road bridge connecting hajipur with patna. however, political opinion prevailed and the digha–sonepur site was selected. rs. 24 million was spent on the survey alone. the proposal to construct the bridge was mentioned in the union budget of 1997-98 and at that time the estimated cost was rs 600 crores. the bridge was finally sanctioned during the term as union railway minister of nitish kumar, present chief minister of bihar. the scope of work was expanded when lalu prasad yadav was the union railway minister.
digha–sonpur bridge