Work set to start on Darbhanga-Jainagar NH in Bihar as Centre sanctions ₹992 cr

PATNA Construction work for the long-delayed four-lane road in Bihar, from Darbhanga to Jainagar in Madhubani district, is set to start as union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) has sanctioned ₹991.88 crore as the first instalment, a senior official of the state’s road construction department (RCD) said on Wednesday.

The RCD will build and maintain the Darbhanga-Jainagar stretch of the national highway (NH) 105, which has been redesigned as NH 527E.

The road is also important for tourism purposes as it will provide a link to the railway service between Bihar and Nepal, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.

The East Central Railway run trains from Jainagar and Kurtha via Janakpurdham in Nepal, the capital of ancient Mithila region.

The RCD official said civil work would commence soon after finalising the construction company on the initial 15-km-stretch from Dilli More in Darbhanga to Banwari Patti, situated on the border of Madhubani district. “However, special efforts need to put in to acquire land in rest of the stretch, from Banwari Patti to Jainagar,” said the official.

RCD officials said ₹430.27 crore would be spent on construction of the road in the next fiscal. The rest of the amount will be allocated for payment of compensation to the landowners, whose plots would be acquired. The monetary support from the MoRTH would give push to the project, likely to be finished in 2025-26.

Early this week, the MoRTH also sanctioned a sum of ₹1614 crore for construction of two national highways — from Bhagalpur to Dhaka More and Barbigha to Godda.