Bridge collapses in Bihar; Govt says it was defective, being pulled down
Khagaria/Bhagalpur, Jun 4: An under-construction bridge over the Ganga river collapsed in Bihar on Sunday, portions of which were deliberately destroyed in a planned fashion under expert advice as it had design flaws, claimed state government officials.
The bridge was supposed to connect Khagaria district with Bhagalpur.
Images of the mishap that took place in Khagaria evoked immediate criticisms from the opposition, prompting Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and Additional Chief Secretary of Road Construction Department, Pratyay Amrit, to hold a hurried press conference.
"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 said at the press conference.
Amrit, who took over, added, "It was decided that we must not take any chance and wait for a final report. So we went ahead with pulling down parts of the bridge. Today's incident was a part of such a preventive exercise".
Once the final report comes, which is expected shortly, the state government would contemplate action like lodging of FIR and blacklisting of the company which was awarded the contract, he said.
The bridge was said to have involved an estimated cost of Rs 1,700 crore.
As images of the collapsing portion were beamed on media outlets, state BJP president reacted strongly and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Choudhary said the incident shows that "corruption is rampant" under the rule of the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government.
"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."
Notably, one labourer died and another was injured after a portion of an under-construction bridge collapsed in Nalanda district in November last year.
Meanwhile in Bihar: The under-construction bridge collapsed.
— BALA (@erbmjha) June 4, 2023
Total cost: ₹1750 crore pic.twitter.com/y4FPFsei5p
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Three youths killed in road accident
Bengaluru (PTI): Three youths lost their lives in a road accident near Agalakote village under Devanahalli Traffic Police near here on Saturday, police said.
The incident happened when their two-wheeler lost control and jumped a median, and they were run over by a lorry, they said.
According to police, all the three were said to be college students. While one was 20 years of age, the other two are said to be 19 years old.
The youth who was riding the two-wheeler, along with his two friends as pillions, was allegedly riding it at a high speed, they said.
While negotiating a curve, he lost control of the vehicle, which hit the median and jumped over to the other side, throwing the three on the opposite road lane. The lorry that was allegedly speeding ran over them, killing all of them on the spot.
Police have registered the case and have named both -- the person riding the bike and the lorry driver -- in the FIR, officials said, and added that further investigation is underway.
