New Alignment Reduces Travel Distance on Varanasi‑Kolkata Expressway

The Varanasi‑Kolkata Expressway’s alignment is set to be altered after Bihar submitted a tunnel plan for the hill at Sasaram. By carving a tunnel through the mountain, the highway’s length in the state could be reduced by approximately fifteen kilometres, making the overall journey shorter.

The expressway covers about 170 km within Bihar and is being executed as seven distinct packages. Earlier, Package‑4’s proposal for a Sasaram tunnel was discarded, and the road was built alongside the hill, increasing the route by 15 km.

Environmental clearance from the state wildlife board now permits the tunnel’s construction, despite earlier forest‑department refusal to allow blasting and the NHAI’s concerns over cost escalation due to tunnel boring. The updated design restores the original, shorter alignment.

The project also includes a 3.5 km bridge over the Son River in Package‑5, together with six smaller bridges, all forming part of a six‑lane expressway that promises faster connectivity between Varanasi and Kolkata.