Nadi Sanjivani MoU Signed for Silt Use in Bihar Highways

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and the Government of Bihar have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the scientific desilting of selected rivers and other water bodies in the state and for the use of the excavated silt in National Highway construction. The agreement was signed in New Delhi in the presence of Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary. The initiative has been named Nadi Sanjivani.

What the initiative does

The plan ties river restoration to road building. Desilting is meant to restore the water-carrying capacity of rivers and water bodies, strengthen flood management and conserve farm land, while the silt taken out becomes a steady supply of construction material for highways. Mr Gadkari said accumulated silt has cut the carrying capacity of rivers and so contributed to floods, damage to crop land and loss of property, a problem sharpened in Bihar by rivers that rise in Nepal and bring in heavy water and sediment. Using the excavated material, he said, lowers the need for fresh earth and agricultural soil, cuts construction cost and speeds up projects, and the model could be extended to other states.

The figures

The silt will be used subject to technical suitability and the required approvals.

How it will be run

• The Road Construction Department of Bihar is the nodal department, helped by a State-level Coordination Committee that will examine proposals, ease approvals and monitor work.
• Work will follow the Bihar Water Sources Restoration and Silt Management Policy, 2026, which also allows removal of sand and silt left on farm land by floods.
• Extraction is allowed only at approved sites and within set technical limits, so that river ecosystems, banks, embankments and bridges are not harmed.
• Suitability of the silt will be tested against MoRTH specifications and Indian Roads Congress codes, with joint measurement, digital records and periodic reconciliation of quantities.

Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary said scientific management of rivers was needed because silt lowers their capacity, and that restoring water bodies would improve irrigation and drinking water supply and help recharge groundwater. The release notes that the National Highway network in Bihar has grown from 4,615 km in 2014 to about 6,500 km now, with about 29 new bridges over major rivers taken up since then. NHAI Chairman Santosh Kumar Yadav was among those present.