Ara: People of Ara are likely to get much needed relief from traffic jams in the city by 2025 end as the Bhojpur district administration has expedited the process to build the proposed 12km-long four-lane ring road connecting several routes around the town. Union minister Nitin Gadkari had given his approval for the ring road in August 2021, on a proposal put forward by then Ara MP R K Singh. According to officials, the ring road project is likely to cost around Rs 321 crore, but it may differ after the detailed project report (DPR) is prepared. The proposed road is expected to divert around 50,000 vehicles as around one lakh vehicles, coming from Rohtas, Kaimur and Buxar districts, travel through the middle of the Ara town daily. Bhojpur DM Tanai Sultania, who inspected the proposed ring road routes on Saturday, told reporters: “The road project once completed will ease the traffic jam in the town as majority of the vehicles coming from others cities, which pass through the town, will be able to take the ring road route to reach their destinations.” The DM said the routes that would be widened for the proposed ring road include, Asni to Patar, Patar to Bampali, Patar to Kayamnagar, Chandwa Mor to Dhanupra, Bhara to Raghu Tola, Baghutpur to Gangi and Baghutpur to Dharhara. “The executive engineer of the Shahabad road division has been asked to prepare a DPR of these routes within three days. We will send the DPR to the department concerned and the work will start soon after the administrative approval of the proposal. The inspection of the Kayamnagar-Zero Mile route has already been done. There are eight roads that will be widened for the ring road. The work has already been started on four after acquisition of the additional land, while the process has been expedited on the remaining ones,” the DM said. The general secretary of the Bhojpur chamber of commerce, Aaditya Vijay Jain, said, “This project will accelerate the economic progress in the region. The vehicles carrying goods that stuck in jam during the peak hours and festive season will reach on time, boosting our sale. Bhojpur chamber of commerce had also passed a resolution in 2007 for the construction of a ring road in Ara.” Lack of adequate parking spaces and encroachments of the roads are the main reasons for frequent traffic jams in the Ara town, said Guddu Pandey, a local.
