Bihar government, NIT may go for tie-ups
The National Institute of Technology (NIT) Patna, whose origin is traced to the 119-year-old Bihar College of Engineering, is set for a smart makeover. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, an alumnus of the institute, plans to seek additional funds from the Centre to develop a state-of-the-art campus at the institute.
At an annual NIT alumni meet, Kumar said his government wants to tie up with the institute for a number of important projects including flyover construction and studies on silt deposits in the Ganga and other rivers in Bihar. Kumar said he wants to see NIT excel in academic excellence. “He is a trained electrical engineer, and he made it big in politics by social engineering,” quipped one of the CM’s old classmates.
Street plays call women to join politics
Inadequate participation of women in politics is a topic of animated discussion in Patna University campuses. With the student’ union elections drawing nearer, a string of street plays has given the topic an extra edge.
Written and directed by well-known theatre personality Manzar Khan, the play aimed at sending the message across through abundant humour. The plays were staged by city-based organisation Women’s Political Forum (WPF) at college campuses and enthralled both students and faculty members. At the end of the play, discussions on sociopolitical factors stopping women from joining politics were held at the campuses.
CNG option for motorists in the offing
Patnaites may soon have cheaper and cleaner energy for their vehicles. GAIL India Ltd plans to set up five CNG refilling centres in Patna, making it the only city in Bihar to have the facility. Five existing petrol pumps in different areas are identified for setting up the centres and agreements have been signed with the pump owners.
Work on setting up the refilling centres will start soon after getting safety clearances. But it may not be before October when the refilling centres start functioning. With work on laying of the CNG pipeline in Patna yet to start, GAIL mulls to operate the refilling stations by supplying gas through containers.
A bridge like Bandra-Worli Sea Link
If all goes well, Patna will have India’s longest river bridge by 2021. The under-construction Kachchi Dargah-Bidupur bridge over the Ganga is already being talked about as Bihar’s version of the famous Bandra-Worli Sea Link. There will be a highway museum, an intelligent traffic system and automated toll plazas on this six-lane bridge that will link Patna and Vaishali districts.
The Rs 4,988.4-crore project, commissioned in January 2016, is expected to give Bihar’s economy a major boost. It will ensure seamless vehicular movement between northern and southern Bihar by connecting the Patna-Bakhtiarpur NH-30 on the south and the NH-103 at Gazipur Chowk on the north. The total length of the bridge will be 22.76 km.
Anand ST Das
Our correspondent in Bihar
anandstdas@gmail.com