New Delhi, 03 November (H.S.):

River silt dredged from waterways across Bihar will be utilised in national highway construction under a joint initiative of the Central and state governments, aimed at improving river carrying capacity, reducing flood risks and promoting sustainable infrastructure development.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Centre and the Bihar Government on Tuesday to facilitate the initiative.

Under the programme, led by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, approximately 24.3 million cubic metres of silt extracted from rivers will be made available free of cost for use in 16 ongoing national highway projects in the state. The proposal also envisages utilising an estimated 83.5 million cubic metres of silt in 27 future highway projects.

The MoU was signed at an event held at the Taj Hotel in New Delhi in the presence of Gadkari and Choudhary. The agreement focuses on river desilting and the utilisation of the extracted material in national highway construction.

Among those present were National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Chairman Santosh Kumar Yadav, Director General Sudeep Chaudhary, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) Managing Director Krishna Kumar, and Bihar Government secretaries Pankaj Pal and Atul Kumar, along with other officials.

According to the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the initiative has been named 'Nadi Sanjeevani: River Rejuvenation, Road Reconstruction'. Under the programme, silt will be removed from rivers to improve their water-carrying capacity, while suitable dredged material will be utilised in the construction of national highways. The NHAI will lead the desilting operations using modern and scientific techniques.

The initiative is expected to improve water flow and drainage in rivers while helping mitigate the risk of seasonal flooding. At the same time, the extracted silt will provide an additional source of construction material for highway projects. This is also expected to reduce construction costs and minimise the extraction and use of natural topsoil.

Currently, 39 NHAI projects covering a total length of 1,561 km are under construction in Bihar at an estimated cost of Rs. 58,340 crore. In addition, 11 new projects spanning 1,982 km have been proposed, with an estimated investment of Rs. 1,85,200 crore.

Rivers such as the Ganga, Kosi, Gandak, Falgu and Bagmati are vital to Bihar's agriculture, cultural heritage and economic activities. However, the continuous accumulation of silt in these rivers affects water flow and aggravates drainage-related problems.

Through this initiative, the Centre and the Bihar Government are seeking to integrate river management with highway infrastructure development, turning the challenge of sediment accumulation into a resource for public infrastructure while addressing concerns related to flooding and river rejuvenation.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar