-
8/14/2019 Road Congress in Patna; changing face of Bihar
1/4
0TH INDIAN ROADCONGRESS; CHANGING
FACE OF BIHAR
7t the invitation of the Government ofBihar, the 70th Annual
Session of the
Indian Road Congress (IRC) is being
held in Patna at the historical Gandhi Maidanduring 14th to 17th
November, 2009. This
Session of Indian Road Congress is being held
in Bihar after a gap of 17. Prior to this, Bihar
had the glory of holding three such sessions,
which had been held respectively in January
1961, December 1981 and Nov-December1992.
A
Formally inaugurating the session
of the Congress, CM Nitish Kumar requested
the delegates and other attending engineers,
experts and architects to design roads which
may be suitable to rural areas in terms ofcost efficiency. He
also urged the engineers
to develop design and suggest measures to
repair the Mahatma Gandhi Setu which is in
shambles. This is the only road bridge which
connects north Bihar to the rest of the state
including Patna. This longest man made
Indian Road Congress Page 1
-
8/14/2019 Road Congress in Patna; changing face of Bihar
2/4
bridge had been inaugurated in May 1982
which cost 65 crores only. The 5.575
Kilometer long bridge has now developed
several cracks leading to serious structural
problems. The engineers in the state
government have been desperately trying to
repair it for several years but in vain. They do
not simply have the expertise and technical
know how to deal such huge technical
problems.
Expressing his helplessness, the
chief minister said that in spite of his best
efforts in terms of man and money, he has
not been so far able to repair this bridge up
to what he called his own satisfaction. He
therefore requested the eminent scientists
and engineers who have assembled here to
participate in this congress to suggest
methods and measures to rectify the
problems.
This congress, among otherthings, is scheduled to discuss among
otherthings, to promote and encourage thescience and practice of
building andmaintenance of roads, provide channel forexpression of
collective opinions with regardto road construction, evolve ways
andpromote use of standard specifications and
Indian Road Congress Page 2
-
8/14/2019 Road Congress in Patna; changing face of Bihar
3/4
latest structural designs, to suggest andshare experiences and
achievementsregarding education, experiment and
research in field of construction andmaintenance of roads, to
hold meetings andseminars at regular intervals to deliberateupon
technical questions, to suggest to thegovernment laws related to
development,improvement and protection of roads and tosuggest
improved methods of administration,
planning design, construction, operation, useand maintenance of
roads.
The IRC is also expected to discuss toestablish, furnish and
maintain libraries andmuseums for enriching the science of road
construction and publish proceedings, journals, periodicals and
other literature topromote Society in helping keep the roads ingood
condition.
Nitish Kumar has been desperately
trying to improve the road conditions in the
state which is considered to be one of the
major banes to development. He also
enhanced the plan allocation for roads from
Rs 1,899 crore in 2008-09 to Rs 2,565 crore
which is 16% of the total plan outlay. The
holding of this IRC is being projected as a
major initiative by the state government to
Indian Road Congress Page 3
-
8/14/2019 Road Congress in Patna; changing face of Bihar
4/4
remove the stereotype image of Bihar in
areas of infrastructure especially roads.
Indian Road Congress Page 4
