http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bihta

Ministry of civil aviation plans to shift Patna airport to Bihta, Bihar government batting for Nalanda

NEW DELHI: As air traffic grows at Patna airport, also known as the Jaiprakash Narayan Airport, the government is considering moving the facility outside Bihar's capital city to a larger and safer location.

According to senior government officials, negotiations are underway between the ministry of civil aviation and the air force to shift the airport from Patna to Bihta, which is a defence airfield 20 km away from the existing facility.

However, the new location of the airport seems to have become a bone of contention between the Centre and state governments, as the latter is batting to shift the facility to Nalanda, which is 90 km away from Patna, instead of Bihta.

"There are land constraints in Patna airport and we want it to be shifted for future expansion. About 90 acres is available at Bihta and talks are going on with the Air Force to let us make a civil enclave there," a senior government official told ET.

The official pointed out that Nalanda would not be a fitting replacement to Patna as a distance of 90 km will dampen traffic growth. "In addition, the state government will have to acquire thousands of hectares and spend their own money to do so, which is not an easy prospect or something which can be done in a short span of time," he added.

Confirming the tug of war over the above-mentioned locations, officials from the Airports Authority of India(AAI) said that they don't mind having an additional airport at Nalanda, but the need of the hour is to first have a bigger airport near Bihar's capital to support traffic growth in Patna.

The airport at Patna is considered to be one of the most critical airports in the country just like Jammu,Calicut and Mangalore, in terms of flight operations due to short runway length (1,600 m as opposed to 1,800 m) and obstacles in the form of trees in both ap-proaches of runway and several other deficiencies, including obstacles on private land around airport.

The AAI and the Bihar government were at loggerheads for over a year for unsafe operations, especially in the backdrop of the crash of an Air India aircraft in Mangalore.

The AAI sent several notices to the state government in the last two years, requesting chopping down of trees around the runway at the Patna airport, which culminated in civil aviation minister Ajit Singh sending a notice last August, grounding operations of big aircraft there.

This move followed a recommendation from aviation regulator DGCA, holding back operating licence of Patna airport because of obstructions on aircraft approach funnel.

Traffic at Patna airport crossed the one million-mark last year and is growing at 30% per annum.

Last year, the AAI identified 101 obstructions on either side of the runway at the Patna airport, which were considered dangerous for aircraft landing here. The obstructions include 3,700 huge trees around the Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park, high-rise buildings, railway cabin, overhead traction lines, mobile towers, a temple, a tall light mast on a burial ground, hoardings, streetlights and electrical poles.

 It is a large village of historical antiquities, situated in the extreme north west of Danapur Sub-division, about 32 kms west of Patna on Patna-Arrah Highway. In the early ages Maner was a centre of learning and it is said that grammarian Panini, and also Bararuchi, lived and studied here. Maner contains two well-known Mohammedan tombs, that of Shah Daulat or Makhdum Daulat, known as Chhoti Dargah, and the other that of Sheikh Yahia Maneri or Makhdum Yahia, called the Bari Dargah. Makhdum Daulat died at Maner in 1608, and Ibrahim Khan, Governor of Bihar and one of the saint's disciples completed the erection of his mausoleum in 1616. The building is exceptionally fine one, with walls containing carvings of great delicacy and high finish. A great dome crowns it, and the ceiling is covered with carved inscriptions from the Quran. Every detail of it is characteristic of the architecture of Jehangir's region, and it is by far the finest monument of the Mughals in Eastern India. Inside the compound there is a mosque also built by Ibrahim Khan in 1619, whiles a fine gateway bearing an older inscription corresponding to 1603-01, and affords access to the north. The tomb of Yahia Maneri lies in a mosque walls and ghats, and pillared porticos jutting out into it, which is connected with the old bed of the River Sone by a tunnel 400-ft long

 Maner Sharif is one of the major tourist attractions in the state of Bihar. Located in the north west of Danapur and 25 kms away from Patna on national highway 30, this place in the ancient times used to be a popular center for learning and spiritual education of the medieval times. Great scholars and grammarians like Bararuchi and Pannini used to live and study in Maner Sharif.

Maner Sharif in Patna is mainly so much famous because of 2 very popular Muslim tombs or mausoleums namely

Chotti Dargah: Tomb of Makhdum Daulat or Shah Daulat. This makbara or mausoleum was built by Ibrahim Khan, the disciple of Makhdum Daulat and the then governor of Bihar in the year 1616.

Badi Dargah: Tomb of Makhdum Yahya Maneri

Reaching Over There

There are multiple options for visiting Maner Sharif in Patna. You can hire a private cab from Patna to go there. You can also travel to the destination through Indian rail or through a bus. Staying is not a problem at all. Being a tourist destination and pilgrimage, you can find several budget hotels over there. The best easy way to go from Bihta by road its 11 KM only and you can hire public transport or private transport. 

Derailment at Bihta on the East Indian Railway, 17 July 1937

The derailment of the down Punjab Mail, (6-Down in those days) on the East Indian Railway at about 1.20am of 17th July 1937 at Bihta, was a talking point for several railway and no-railway people alike, for a number of years.   I was only nine years of age at the time, but being interested in trains and steam engines from a very young age, I used to listen to the "accounts" and explanations offered about the accident by so many people, each one differing in a number of details, that even at my young age, I never knew which one was the factual one.   For years I believed that the main cause of the accident was the ‘XB’ locomotive (No.1910 of Jhajha [JAJ] Loco. Shed) which, I was told, was a very rough rider at high speeds.   From time to time I heard it said that the Mail was not headed by an ‘XB’ but, a passenger train ahead of it was and that locomotive was to blame for the track damage which derailed the Punjab Mail.

It was in 1956 however, while talking to one of my uncles who was at the time, in the Traffic

Department, Asansol [ASN] Division of the EIR and had retired to Hertfordshire, England, that I finally got as close to the truth as anyone could get about the cause of the accident and even after hearing what he had to say, I was none the wiser than apparently, even the investigating team were.   My uncle enthused about the accident and told me he was one of the EIR team set up to examine the likely causes of the accident.   He confirmed that the train was not headed by an XB, as was generally put about and then went on to say he had taken photographs during this inspection and disappeared for about ten minutes, returning with a photo-album full of railway photographs.   Apart from being a keen photographer he was a meticulous man and went straight to the pages where he had placed the photographs.

As soon as I saw them, I was able to see that the engine was not an 4-6-2 ‘XB’ (As you will see from the photographs accompanying this article) but a 4-4-2 Atlantic-class ‘AP’ which were often used for express duty on the EIR, NWR and BAR (EBR at the time of the accident) and were very fast running locomotives.   This cleared up the point about the engine, and in a way exempted the ‘XB’ for this particular accident. (Unless the XB heading the preceding train, had in fact, damaged the track; but this MAY not be the case as you read on.)

Having cleared up the engine problem, I asked him what caused the accident.   He was unable to offer any cut and dried answer; the track was so badly damaged as a result of the accident, it could not be ruled in or out.   It could have been due to damage to the track bedding (the “Permanent Way”) because the weather was very bad at the time.   It was the height of the monsoon and there was very heavy rain which could have caused what he referred to as "loose or subsiding bedding" and since there was so much damage due to the wreckage itself, and other contributing factors, it could not be said which one or all were to blame.   In truth they never came to any really satisfactory explanation for accident.

I mentioned that I was once told the driver of the preceding train had reported a "nudge" at the place of the disaster, when he brought his train into Patna [PNBR], but nothing was done about it.   His reply was that this was never authenticated.   After hours of talking about his days on the EIR neither he nor I were any wiser as to what was the real cause of the accident and far as he was concerned it was an "Open” verdict.   No doubt railway enthusiasts will talk about Bihta Accident for years to come.

With regard to the speed of the train at the time of the derailment, my uncle's words were, "The train had stopped at Arrah [ARA] and its next stop was to have been Dinapore Cantonment [DNR], but as Bihta [BTA] was about ten miles from Arrah (the eastern approach to the Sone River Bridge), the train had plenty of time to pick up speed and must have been doing about sixty miles per hour, as this train often did once it got going, when it  went off the rails."    Looking at the carnage in the photograph, I quite believe it!

Bihta Accident - A general view of the carnage at Bihta, the Howrah bound Punjab Mail was close to 60 mph

when it derailed. Photo provided by Ken Staynor.

Bihta Accident 5 - A view of the accident clearly showing that the capsized locomotive was a 4-4-2 Atlantic Class

‘AP’ and not a 4-6-2 XB Pacific as was generally believed to have been responsible for the accident.

Photo provided by Ken Staynor.

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