Govt OKs alignment of Patna Ring Road

Patna: The state govt has approved the alignment of the northern section of the Patna Ring Road from Dighwara to Sarai, a decision aimed at improving connectivity to the proposed greenfield airport at Sonepur and supporting planned industrial development in Vaishali and Saran districts.The decision was discussed during a high-level review meeting on national highways and projects of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in Bihar, held in Patna on Thursday under the chairmanship of Union minister of state for road transport and highways Harsh Malhotra. State road construction department secretary Pankaj Kumar Pal and other senior officials were present at the meeting.The review meeting focused particularly on the progress of the Patna Ring Road project, including land acquisition, construction timelines and traffic management.During the meeting, Pal informed the minister that the revised alignment would improve access for passengers travelling to and from the proposed airport while also opening up land for industrial growth in the adjoining region.Malhotra directed NHAI officials to prepare and submit the detailed project report for the northern section at the earliest so that the Centre can take up its approval.Road connectivity linked to the proposed Sonepur airport also came up for discussion during the meeting. This included a proposed service road from State Highway-74 (SH-74) to the Patna-Bettiah route.Officials said the project is expected to strengthen regional connectivity and support faster development around the airport as well as along the wider Patna Ring Road corridor.