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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Rupee falls 4 paise to 90.24 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee opened weak and declined 4 paise to 90.24 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, as geopolitical uncertainties triggered by the US intervention in Venezuela fuelled the demand for the American currency.
According to forex traders, the rupee is expected to trade lower due to geopolitical development, even though a lower crude prices could provide some cushion.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.21 against the US dollar and lost further to trade at 90.24 against the greenback in early deals.
On Friday, the rupee settled lower by 22 paise at 90.20 against the US dollar.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.36 per cent higher at 98.50.
The US on Saturday carried out a military operation in Venezuela an deposed President Nicolas Maduro. President Donald Trump said the US would "run" the South American country and tap its vast oil reserves to sell to other nations.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.07 per cent lower at USD 60.70 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex declined 135.81 points to 85,626.20 in early trade, while the Nifty was down 25.75 points to 26,302.80.
Foreign institutional investors turned net buyers, picking up equities worth Rs 289.80 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
The latest RBI data released on Friday showed India's forex reserves jumped by USD 3.293 billion to USD 696.61 billion in the week to December 26. The overall kitty had increased by USD 4.368 billion to USD 693.318 billion in the previous reporting week.
