Some 200 km from Patna, the state capital, on the national highway 77, there is a bridge (popularly known as Kataunjha Pul) over river Bagmati. About half a kilometer long, it connects Muzaffarpur and Sitamarhi, the two neighbouring districts in north Bihar.
At first look, there is nothing spectacular about this bridge, except that state’s chief minister Nitish Kumar inaugurated it in April 2007.
But, stop by for few minutes at the chowks located at the both the ends of the bridge—Sairpur in Sitamarhi and Loharnakiya in Muzaffarpur—and the importance of the bridge will swamp you as the river flowing down the bridge swamped the entire region few monsoons back.
The river, until the new bridge was constructed beside the low lying old iron bridge, brought untold misery to the people of both the districts every monsoon. For three months (June-August) every year, when it rained, water flowed over the old dilapidated bridge, forcing the administration to restrict the movement of heavy vehicles over it resulting in their huge pile up on both sides for days.
Mohammad Murtaza who owns a sweet shop at Sairpur chowk, on the Sitamarhi side, recalling those flood-hit days, said, he along with other shop-owners had tough time earning their daily bread. “Our shops were inundated and we went out of business the entire monsoon season,” he said.
Babban Kumar, who lives in Muzaffarpur, and has a clothes shop in Sitamarhi across the river agreed. “Since it was must for me to cross the river to reach my shop, I risked my life everyday crossing the flooded bridge delicately balancing my feet on it,” he said.
Like Babban and Murtaza, there were thousand others, who were stranded on both end of the bridge during the monsoon.
The government on its part had spent around 20 crore since 1981 when the work on the new bridge was sanctioned, but to no avail.
And, with the Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Ltd (BRPNNL), the agency charged with the construction of the bridge going in for its own liquidation in 2005, there was no hope left for the likes of Babban and Murtaza.
But then in the assembly elections of November 2005 JD (U) led by Nitish Kumar came to power and the new government decided to resurrect the sinking BRPNNL and along with it the bridge over river Bagmati.
In April 2006, Pratyaya Amrit, an IAS of 1991 batch, was appointed as the new Managing Director of BRPNNL and given the responsibility of pulling it out of the red.
Amrit chose Kataunjha bridge as his first project and finished it within the deadline of one year in May 2007.
Dinesh Sharma, an employee of the BRPNNL camps at Sitamarhi side of the bridge and is in charge of maintaining the ‘Pul’. “It is godsend for the people of the region,” he said.
Following the construction of the bridge, Babban and Murtaza’s customers have increased in number. “While earlier people came to us only from one end of the bridge, today they come from the both the districts,” Babban said.
Rajendra Prasad, who owns a saree shop at Janar Chowk, some 500 meters from the bridge on Muzaffarpur side, said, the livelihood of 20 villages today hinges on the Kataunjha bridge. “You would not be able to appreciate its importance unless you belong here,” he said.
While people from both the districts across the river acknowledge the importance of the bridge, what escapes them is its significance in the larger scheme of BRPNNL.
Amrit, who now has taken over as the secretary of road construction department (RCD), however is aware what Kataunjha means to BRPNNL.
“It would not be an exaggeration to say that the road to the revival of the erstwhile bankrupt BRPNNL was taken through the Kataunjha bridge,” Amrit said.
When Amrit was chosen to lead the defunct organization, he chose one of the most difficult projects that had been hanging fire for last 17 years. The idea was to take the bull by horn and send a message to the employees of the BRPNNL that the new MD was serious at the revival of the behemoth.
The gamble worked.
The success of Kataunjha led the way for construction of a record number of 422 bridges in four years (till 2005 BRPNNL had built 319 bridges in its 30 yrs of existence since 1975)
Today BRPNNL boasts of a net profit of 70 crore for the year 2008-09 with a turnover of 768 crore (as compared to Rs 57.38 crore for the year 2004-05).
The Nigam’s soaring reputation also helped it in attracting private capital. In first ever public private partnership (PPP) initiative worth Rs 1400 crore, a 5.5 km bridge will be built over river Ganga connecting Bakhtiyarpur with Tajpur in the state.
Having pulled out the BRPNNL from its deathbed and breathed a new life into it, Amrit, now has his eyes set on the road sector.
Already drawing accolades for much better roads all across the state, the RCD under Amrit has set the target of 2015 as the year when state's road infrastructure will be at par with best in the country.
“In few years time it should not take more than six hours to reach the state headquarters from any corner of the states,” Amrit said.
Like the construction of record number of bridges in last four years, the statistics for the network of roads is no less daunting. As compared to 384km of roads constructed in 2004-05, the RCD has built 3474 km of roads for 2009-10.
The seriousness with which state government has taken up the task of revamping and upgrading the road infrastructure is reflected from the fact that it is spending money from its own coffers to upgrade the national highways. “In last four and a half years, we have spent Rs 703 crore from our own funds to maintain and upgrade the national highways,” Amrit said.
With the private capital worth more than Rs 5000 crore lined up for the road sector (including bridges), the going looks extremely good for Amrit led RCD and for the people of Bihar.
But it all started with the bridge over river Bagmati. “Had we failed in that project, the massive mobilization of the employees and the boost that their moral received after the completion of the bridge would not have been possible. And surely we would not have reached where we are today,” Amrit said.
