Begusarai/Mokama (Bihar) | Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated the 1.86-km-long Aunta-Simaria Bridge on Ganga River in Bihar, officials said.

The bridge project, constructed at a cost of over Rs 1,870 crore on National Highway 31, will provide direct connectivity between Mokama in Patna and Begusarai, they said.

With the inauguration of the bridge, the PM on Friday launched development projects worth more than Rs 13,000 crore in Bihar.

After the inauguration, the PM stood on the bridge and waved his 'gamcha' at crowds.

The bridge has been constructed parallel to an old two-lane dilapidated rail-cum-road bridge 'Rajendra Setu', which is in poor condition, forcing heavy vehicles to re-route.

"The new bridge will reduce the additional travel distance of more than 100 km for the heavy vehicles travelling between north Bihar (Begusarai, Supaul, Madhubani, Purnea, Araria) and south Bihar (Sheikhpura, Nawada and Lakhisarai).

"It will also help reduce traffic jams in other parts of the region due to the detour that these vehicles were forced to take," an official said.

The bridge will boost economic growth in the adjoining areas, especially in north Bihar, which are dependent on south Bihar and Jharkhand for various goods.

It will also provide better connectivity to the renowned pilgrimage of Simaria Dham, which is also the birthplace of famous poet, the late Ramdhari Singh Dinkar.