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Bihar State Chief Vows ‘Strict Action’ On Bridge Collapse

© AFP 2023 -This photo taken on June 4, 2023, shows an under construction bridge collapsing into the river Ganges in Bhagalpur district in India's eastern state of Bihar.
This photo taken on June 4, 2023, shows an under construction bridge collapsing into the river Ganges in Bhagalpur district in India's eastern state of Bihar. - Sputnik India, 1920, 05.06.2023
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On 29 April 2022, a section of the Aguwani-Sultanganj Ganga bridge linking the Bihar cities of Khagaria, Aguwani and Sultanganj collapsed during a thunderstorm. No casualties were reported.
India's Bihar State Chief Nitish Kumar on Monday said his government would take strict action against anyone found responsible for the collapse of the Aguwani-Sultanganj Ganga bridge while it was under construction.

Describing the most recent collapse as a serious matter, Kumar said: “The bridge is not being built properly and that is why it has collapsed twice since April 2022. The department concerned has already launched a thorough probe into it. Strict action will be taken against those found guilty.”

Wondering why the construction of the bridge, started in 2014, has not yet been completed, the Bihar State Chief said he has asked the concerned department to investigate this and Deputy State Chief Tejashwi Yadav is also monitoring the development.
The 3.16km bridge collapsed for a second time in the span of just more than a year on Sunday 4 June 2023 at around 18:00 IST (12:30 GMT).
The bridge was meant to be completed in 2019. However, it got delayed. Now, according to media reports the bridge is scheduled to be opened in November or December this year.
It is due to be the country’s longest bridge and will have a high-level observatory that will give users a unique view of the river.
Some locals managed to film the bridge's collapse on their cellphones and footage has gone viral on social media.
After the tragic incident, Deputy State Chief Tejashwi Yadav, who also holds the portfolio of Bihar's Road Construction Department, said the state government was planning to demolish the under-construction bridge because of structural flaws.
“It may be recalled that a portion of this bridge collapsed on 29 April last year. We had, thereafter, approached IIT-Roorkee, which is esteemed for its expertise in construction, to conduct a study. It has yet to come up with a final report. But experts, who studied the structure, informed us that there were serious defects,” he stated.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition party in the state, lashed out at the Bihar state government over the incident.
Demanding that State Chief Kumar resign, BJP’s state unit president Samrat Chaudhary alleged that the state government is seething with corruption and the condition of both the roads and the bridges is pathetic.
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Meanwhile, the BJP's national spokesman said in a tweet that the bridge's collapse represented a $211Mln loss to the taxpayer. He poked fun at the State Chief, remarking that Kumar's bridge of corruption has collapsed while he was trying to build a bridge of opposition unity (at the federal level against Modi government ahead of 2024 parliamentary polls....)
Responding to calls by the state's opposition BJP to resign, Deputy State Chief Tejashwi Yadav said: “Last year, a portion of this bridge gave way in a thunderstorm when the BJP was in power in the state. 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 an expert opinion.”
Last year, the bridge collapsed on the Sultanganj side during a thunderstorm and this time it collapsed on Khagaria side. No casualties have been reported this time either.
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