New Delhi: Hours after an under-construction bridge over the Ganga river collapsed in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday mentioned that ‘it ought to have been stronger’. Speaking to reporters, Nitish mentioned that the bridge will not be being ‘constructed appropriately’ which is why it’s collapsing time and again. A portion of the bridge, which was supposed to attach Bihar’s Khagaria district with Bhagalpur, earlier collapsed on April 30 final 12 months.
“I have instructed officials to take strict action,” Nitish Kumar mentioned.
No casualties or accidents have been reported within the incident that befell on Sunday night and was caught on digital camera by some bystanders.
The bridge was reportedly being constructed at a value of greater than Rs 1,700 crore and was purported to have been accomplished by November 2019.
The bridge collapse prompted Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and Additional Chief Secretary of Road Construction Department, Pratyay Amrit, to carry a hurried press convention.
“It may be recalled that a portion of this bridge had collapsed on April 30 last year. We had, thereafter, approached IIT-Roorkee, which is 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,” Yadav mentioned on the presser.
He added that final 12 months, a portion of this bridge had given away in a thunderstorm.
“It was an incident which was widely talked about and I strongly raised it in my capacity as the then Leader of the Opposition. Upon coming to power, we ordered an inquiry and sought expert opinion,” Yadav mentioned.
He disclosed that ‘many structural defects’ have been identified by consultants and that they’ve already pulled down many parts which have been flagged as significantly susceptible.
Bihar bridge collapse: BJP calls for Nitish Kumar’s resignation
Bihar Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Samrat Choudhary got here out with a press release demanding the resignation of Nitish Kumar, who had snapped ties with the saffron celebration in August final 12 months.Â
“Sub-standard materials were used for the construction of the bridge. The CM is least bothered about the development of Bihar… He is busy on his tour. He must resign from his post after this incident,” Choudhary mentioned.
Fellow BJP chief Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, a former Bhagalpur MP, additionally blamed the mishap on ‘corruption’ and demanded a high-level inquiry into the incident.
He additionally alleged that the incident ‘has put a query mark on development works being undertaken throughout the state, a lot of which have been awarded to the identical contractor’.
