Snapshot
The proposed greenfield expressway starts at Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh and passes through numerous districts of Northern Bihar before ending at Siliguri in West Bengal.
Bihar is all set to get a fourth expressway as the proposed greenfield expressway from Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh to Siliguri in West Bengal will pass through districts in north Bihar.
The absence of a direct road connecting Gorakhpur with Siliguri makes it nearly a day to cover the distance between the two cities. With most of it passing through northern Bihar, the proposed expressway will reduce the time and distance between Gorakhpur and Siliguri.
The new expressway will pass through Gopalganj, Siwan, Chhapra, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Supaul, Saharsa, Purnia, Kishanganj before reaching Siliguri, reports Hindustan Times.
According to the report, the central government has given in-principle approval for the expressway.
The Union Government has already approved the 310-kilometre Amas to Darbhanga (via Patna) expressway. The Amas-Darbhanga expressway has a north-south alignment and connects Amas in south Bihar near the border with Jharkhand with Darbhanga in north Bihar. It will run through Aurangabad and Muzaffarpur.
Approval for another expressway from Raxaul to Kolkata via Patna is pending before the cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA). The Union ministry of road transport and highway (MoRTH) has already given the green signal to this mega project.
The Raxaul to Kolkata expressway via Patna will facilitate a swift movement of goods from North Bihar to Bengal. This expressway will be a boon for exporters in Nepal who will have high-speed access to Kolkata and Haldia ports.
At present, it takes more than 24 hours to travel from Raxaul, which is situated on the Indo-Nepal border, to Kolkata through National Highway 28A, which is in pathetic condition. The proposed eight-lane expressway will cut the journey time to just eight hours or even less.
Also, the detailed proposal for the Buxar-Bhagalpur expressway has been chalked out, and its proposed alignment has also been finalised.
The 350-kilometre Buxar-Bhagalpur expressway has an east-west alignment and will connect Buxar in west Bihar bordering Uttar Pradesh to Bhagalpur in east Bihar near the Bihar-Bengal border.