The bridge was intended to link Bhagalpur and the Khagaria district.
After a bridge still being built over the Ganga river in Bihar fell on Sunday, the deputy chief minister, Tejashwi Yadav, said that the bridge was being demolished as it had serious faults’ in its design. Videos of the Aguwani-Sultanganj bridge falling went popular on social media, drawing harsh criticism from the opposition BJP. The bridge was intended to connect the Khagaria area with Bhagalpur.
There were no reported casualties in the incident. The decision was made after a section of the same bridge collapsed during a thunderstorm in 2022, according to Yadav and the additional chief secretary of the road construction department, Pratyay Amrit. He continued the government subsequently tasked scientists at IIT-Roorkee with analyzing the structure.
Amrit said the administration demolished some “flawed” bridges before waiting for the final study because they didn’t want to take any chances.
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“It may be recalled that a portion of this bridge had collapsed on April 30 last year. I strongly raised it as the then Leader of the Opposition. Upon coming to power, we ordered an inquiry and sought expert opinion…approached IIT-Roorkee, esteemed for its expertise in construction matters, to conduct a study. It is yet to come up with a final report, but experts who had studied the structure had informed us that there were serious defects,” At the news conference, Yadav stated.
The state government will consider taking actions like filing an FIR and placing the company that was awarded the contract on a blocklist once the final report, which is anticipated soon, is received, he said.
According to Yadav, several “vulnerable” portions of the bridge, which is thought to have been constructed for an estimated cost of 1,700 crores, have already been demolished because of structural problems.
Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, has requested Amrit to give a thorough report on the incident and demanded harsh punishment for those responsible.
Yadav reiterated that the bridge would increase connectivity in north Bihar and stated that the government would finish the project once all construction-related concerns have been handled. The project was intended to begin operating by November 2019.
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In response to the BJP’s allegations, the Rashtriya Janata Dal tweeted that most of the construction occurred while BJP ministers Mangal Pandey, Nand Kishore Yadav, and Nitin Nabin were in charge.
इसके जिन खराब स्पैन का निर्माण कार्य हुआ है उस दौरान 2017 से 2022 तक BJP के श्री नंद किशोर, मंगल पांडे और नितिन नवीन मंत्री रहे है।
कुछ ज्ञान नहीं रहता तो पता कर लेना चाहिए। 30 अप्रैल 2022 को आँधी से इसका एक हिस्सा गिरा था तब भी बीजेपी के नितिन नवीन ही मंत्री थे। अब बताओ? https://t.co/znt2t1E4p0
— Rashtriya Janata Dal (@RJDforIndia) June 4, 2023
The response of the opposition
Former Bhagalpur MP Syed Shahnawaz Hussain requested an investigation into the incident that purportedly smelled of “corruption” while state BJP chief Samrat Choudhary called for Kumar’s resignation.
Shehzad Poonwalla, the national spokesperson for the BJP, called it “the bridge of corruption” and poked fun at the chief minister. Priti Gandhi, a different BJP spokesperson, advised Kumar to focus on his state. “instead of poking his nose in issues not concerning him.”
