PRIME MINISTER TO LAY FOUNDATION
STONE FOR A MEGA RAIL BRIDGE ON RIVER KOSI IN BIHAR
The Prime Minister
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee will lay foundation stone for a mega
rail bridge on river Kosi at Nirmali in North Bihar on June 6,
2003. The Minister of Railways Shri Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister
of Bihar Smt. Rabri Devi and two Ministers of State for Railways
Shri Bandaru Dattatraya and Shri A.K. Moorthy will be present,
among other dignitaries, on the occasion.
The two kilometre
long rail bridge on Kosi river will link Nirmali with Saraigarh.
The project will be accomplished at an estimated cost of Rs. 323
crores in six years by 2009-2010.
This rail link will
unite again the two parts of Supaul district and Mithila region
and also develop alternative route between North Bihar and North
Eastern States.
This is one of the
four mega rail bridges being taken up under National Rail Vikas
Yojana announced by the Prime Minister on August 15, 2002.
The project has been
included in the Railway Budget 2003-2004. Located in district
Supaul in North Bihar, it will connect Nirmali, which is presently
a terminus station of Darbhanga-Sakri-Jhanjharpur-Nirmali Metre
gauge section, with Saraigarh station of Saharsa-Forbisganj Metre
gauge route to provide through link to Northeast Frontier Railway.
River Kosi has been
causing floods and damages in this region due to shifting of its
river course. Between year 1921 and 1954 Kosi shifted its course
by almost 50 kilometres westward. With the shifting of main channel
of Kosi river, the rail link between Nirmali-Bhaptiahi (Saraigarh)
got washed away in 1934 and train services curtailed with further
damage in 1937. The train services had to be terminated at Nirmali.
No proper bridge location could be planned to restore washed away
rail line bridge due to continuous changing course of Kosi river.
With the disruption
of this route, people of Nirmali area were thus forced to take
a circuitous route of 298 kilometres via Darbhanga-Samastipur-Khagaria-Mansi-Saharsa
to reach district headquarters.
The construction
of a barrage on river Kosi at Bhimnagar along Nepal Border in
1963 and construction of marginal bunds on east and west bank
on down stream side of barrage has helped in confining the course
of river. This has also helped in saving the region from repeated
floods.
