A bridge built at a cost of nearly ₹6 crore in Bihar’s Katihar district remains out of use, not because it’s unsafe, but because there’s no road leading up to it.

The Pasanta Bridge, located in Dandkhoda block, was constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) to connect several flood-prone villages to Katihar town. Four years later, the bridge stands complete, but villagers can’t use it as the approach road on one side was never built.

From a distance, the bridge looks like any other government project meant to improve rural connectivity. But closer inspection shows a problem; on one side lies only farmland, and one of the bridge pillars sits on private land that was never officially acquired.

As a result, vehicles cannot reach or cross the bridge, leaving it stranded in the middle of fields.

Work on the bridge began on September 3, 2020, and was supposed to be finished by September 2, 2021. While construction of the bridge itself appears complete, villagers say that land acquisition for the approach road and one pillar was never carried out.

Residents claim the project’s Detailed Project Report (DPR) was made without properly securing private land, and that construction still went ahead. They say this oversight has turned what could have been a lifeline for nearby villages into a “white elephant.”

The bridge was expected to link around 10 to 12 nearby villages to Katihar’s district headquarters, reducing travel time and improving access during floods. Now, locals continue to take long detours to reach the main roads, which is the very problem the bridge was supposed to solve.

When contacted, Katihar District Officer Manish Meena acknowledged the issue and said that he would look into the matter.

With the structure standing idle for four years, villagers hope that the long-pending road will finally be completed, turning the bridge from a stranded project into the rural link it was meant to be.