Bihar: CM Nitish Kumar flags off 227 new buses for devotees on Prakash Parva

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday flagged off 227 new well-equipped buses purchased by the state government for the free travel of devotees coming for the 350^th Prakash Parva of Guru Govind Singh.

The 227 buses purchased under JNURM scheme would be launched on roads for the festival which would last from December 25 to January 5, 2017, after which the buses will be pressed into services for general public, Kumar said after flagging off the buses.

The buses are fitted with GPS, CCTV, reverse camera, distress alarms and road maps, he said.

The chief minister made it clear that the buses would transport devotees during Prakash Parva free of cost but after that a passenger has to pay for the journey when it is introduced as public transport.

He also laid foundation for an inter-state bus terminus for Patna which would be constructed within two years on Patna-Gaya road.

Kumar laumched several other schemes and projects of the urban development department in presence of state Urban Development Minister Maheshwar Hazari and Transport minister Chandrika Rai.

Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, Development Commissioner Shishir Sinha and Principal Secretary of Urban Development department Chaitnya Prasad were present among others.

The chief minister inaugurated new bus terminals at Katihar, Supual, Bhabua, Nasriganj, Makhdumpur, Bodh Gaya, Belsand and Banka through a remote control.

He declared the commencing of construction of ghats on bank of Ganga at 12 places.

Kumar recalled his student days when he used to spend a lot of time on banks of the mighty river and said he had an interest for construction of beautiful ghats since those days.

Work on construction of four more ghats on Ganga would be completed by June next year, he said adding work is underway to interlink all the ghats.