River crossings

By this afternoon Mark was approaching the confluence of the Ghugri (see yesterday's post) and the Ganges.... and, in the wedge between them, fast running out of land! The difficulties which the terrain presents for communications in this part of India are enormous. Apart from the difficulties imposed by annual floods and the fact that large tracts lie below water for several months of the year, roads and railways (the latter being particularly important in India) have to negotiate broad watercourses. At this point the Ganges is about 2km wide.

Earlier today, Mark passed a point on the Ganges where a new road/rail bridge is being constructed at Munger (Monghyr)...

And here, closer up, are some of the supports still awaiting their spans..


A search found this information "Munger will undergo a very significant economic change once the "Ganga Bridge" project is completed in 2007. The price of land may skyrocket, as it will be possible to travel to Patna, the capital city of Bihar, in 1/3 the time than it takes now."

Mark will soon need to head south towards Calcutta but his route is determined by the location of road bridges. There is a very fine bridge across the Ganges at Bhagalpur (see map above and image below) but it only carries a rail line . Mark will cross the Ghugri at Kursela but will have a bit to go before he can find a bridge to cross the Ganges itself. Below, a nice image of the Ganges at Bhagalpur...