Raiganj MLA meets Chief Secretary

Raiganj: Krishna Kalyani, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA of Raiganj met B P Gopalika, Chief Secretary of the state, urging him to have a talk with Brajesh Mehrotra, Chief Secretary of Bihar for a ‘no objection certificate’ (NOC) for the construction of the Raiganj-Barsoi Road.

The Chief Secretary has reportedly assured the MLA that he would have a talk with his Bihar counterpart soon on this issue.

An 18-km-long road already exists from Raiganj to Bahin through Subashganj. This road has to be repaired and widened for traffic. Nagar River flows at the end of Bahin and Bihar lies on the west bank of this river. Barsoi Junction is around 3 km from this spot. In order to construct a bridge on the river, the state government needs a ‘no objection certificate’ from Bihar.

It is reported that Barsoi Junction in Bihar is around 21 km away from Raiganj Station of North Dinajpur district. In absence of proper road connectivity between the two places, the residents of different places of Raiganj, Kaliyaganj, Hemtabad and Itahar are facing great hardship to avail long-distance trains from Barsoi Junction.

On the other hand, the residents of many places of Barsoi cannot reach Raiganj in the absence of road connectivity.

Krishna Kalyani said: “Our state government has already allotted necessary funds for the construction of the bridge on Nagar River and road construction from Raiganj to Barsoi.

If this road is completed, trade and commerce of both the states will flourish. The residents of different places of Raiganj, Kaliyaganj, Hemtabad and Itahar areas will have an easy access to avail trains from Barsoi Junction.

An NOC is required from Bihar to construct the bridge. I recently met B P Gopalika asking him to take up the NOC matter with his counterpart in Bihar.

He assured me that he would have a talk. As soon as we get an NOC, we will start construction of both the bridge and the road.”