Bihar govt suspends 15 engineers over bridge collapse incidents
Patna, Jul 5: The Bihar government on Friday suspended 15 engineers in connection with a series of recent incidents of bridge collapse in the state, a senior official said.
The decision was taken after a probe panel submitted its report to the Water Resources Department (WRD).
A total of 10 bridges collapsed in Siwan, Saran, Madhubani, Araria, East Champaran and Kishanganj districts in the past 17 days, officials said.
The report found that the engineers were “negligent” and monitoring was “ineffective”, which is the main reason behind the collapse of small bridges and causeways in the state, Additional Chief Secretary of WRD, Chaitanya Prasad, told reporters here.
Those suspended include four executive engineers.
“The Rural Works Department has also initiated the process of blacklisting the contractor who was involved in the construction of the bridge in Araria district. The department has also stopped payment of the contractor/firm for its previous work till the completion of the probe,” said Dipak Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, RWD.
Besides, the department has sought explanation from officials concerned for the collapse of bridges in East Champaran on June 23 and in Madhubani on June 26.
“A probe has already been ordered into the collapse of RWD bridges in these two districts,” said Singh.
Commenting on the bridge collapse incidents, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav told reporters: “Why are leaders of the NDA-led Bihar government, including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, maintaining a stoic silence… These incidents prove how corruption is rampant in the ruling dispensation."
“The portfolio of the RWD, which constructs most of the small bridges in the state, is always with JD(U) leaders. Who should be held responsible for this mess?” the former deputy CM said.
Reacting to Yadav’s comments, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Union minister and founder of the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), which is an alliance partner of the NDA, said the matter should not be politicised.
“Our chief minister has already issued strict instructions to senior officials of the department to take stern action against those who are found guilty,” he said.
Chirag Paswan, the chief of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), another alliance partner of the NDA, added: “The NDA government in Bihar has taken the matter very seriously, and action is being initiated against the erring officials and contractors.”
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MP boat tragedy: Death toll rises to 10 with recovery of one more body; 3 tourists still missing
Jabalpur (PTI): The body of a child was retrieved on Saturday evening from Bargi Dam in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy that took place two days ago to ten, while search continued for three missing tourists.
The boat, operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening with some of the survivors alleging negligence and safety lapses such as life jackets not being distributed in time.
The body recovered on Saturday evening was possibly that of six-year-old Viraj Soni, said Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Anjul Ayank Mishra.
"The identity will be confirmed after family members identify the body," he told PTI.
Kamraj, an employee of the Ordnance Factory at Khamaria, his five-year-old son Tamil, and another child Mayuram (5) who had come from southern India were still missing.
Authorities have arranged equipment to search deep waters of the dam and are getting a generator to facilitate diving operations, Mishra added.
Divers and disaster response teams have expanded the search radius to five km, he said.
Of the 41 identified passengers on board the ill-fated vessel, 28 were rescued, police said.
More than 200 rescuers, including around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, joined the search operation that resumed at 5 on Saturday morning. The operation, involving the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, was briefly affected at around 9 am due to strong winds, officials said.
Post-mortem examinations of nine deceased persons have been completed, Mishra said.
"Our priority is to search for the missing persons. We will also register a First Information Report in the case soon," he said.
Police said CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat while the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the tragedy and dismissed three crew members. It also banned operation of similar vessels in the state.
