Patna, April 20: There is good news for Bihar. Railways have agreed to construct 20 road overbridges (ROBs) in the state. The ROBs would be constructed at a cost of Rs 405 crore.
Railways and road construction department (RCD) would share the cost and the state would provide Rs 238 crore for the project. The railways would provide the remaining fund.
“We had sent a proposal for constructing 25 ROBs of which 20 (see table) have been approved,†RCD minister Nand Kishore Yadav told The Telegraph.
As far as construction of ROBs are concerned, the proposals are sent by the state government concerned to the railway board, which after assessing the traffic load on level-crossing gives approval to the proposal.
“The letter sent by the railways says they found only 20 out of the 25 level-crossing meeting the norms for ROB construction,†Yadav said.
The construction of these ROBs would be done by Ircon, a government company incorporated by the central government (ministry of railways) under the Companies Act, 1956. Earlier, the company was known as Indian Railway Construction Company Limited. It is a leading turnkey construction company in the public sector and has constructed several ROBs across the country including Bihar in the past.
As far as actual construction work is concerned, Ircon would formulate the detail plans and the project would get underway only after administrative approval of the state government as the state is providing more than 50 per cent of the fund for this project.