A bridge in Bihar was built at an outlay of approximately Rs 6 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). Yet, four years after work began, it remains effectively unusable because the approach road that should connect it to the local road network has never been completed.
The Pasanta Bridge in Dandkhoda block in Bihar's Katihar district looks, from a distance, like any other government-built bridge intended to end isolation for a clutch of flood-prone villages. However, there is no approach road on one side, only a swathe of fields and one of the pillars of the bridge, whose base lies on privately owned land.
The bridge was intended to carry residents from a cluster of some 10-12 nearby villages to the district headquarters, shortening journeys that now require long diversions.
Work on the bridge began on September 3, 2020. Contractors were given until September 2, 2021, to deliver the project. Locals say the bridge looks finished, but the approach road, and specifically one pillar that sits on private land, was never built because land acquisition was not completed.
The project's Detailed Project Report (DPR), the villagers insist, was drawn up without the necessary private-land acquisitions, and work proceeded regardless. That decision, the residents say, is the reason the bridge stands as a white elephant.
When contacted, Katihar's District Officer Manish Meena acknowledged the problem and said that he would investigate the matter.
