The collapse of an under-construction bridge in Bihar’s Bhagalpur has created political furore in the state with government and BJP throwing salvos at each other.
After the four-lane bridge came crashing down like a house of cards yesterday evening, Bihar government as per NDTV report said that the structure had "serious defects" and portions had been deliberately destroyed in a planned fashion.
"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," Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav was quoted as having said.
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The report quoting Bihar government official said that they decided not to take any chance and went ahead with pulling down parts of the bridge.
The bridge was said to have involved an estimated cost of Rs 1,700 crore.
The government has ordered an inquiry into Sunday's incident and said strict action should be taken against the erring officials, it said.
Yadav as per the report said that "many structural defects have been pointed out by experts and we have already pulled down many portions which have been flagged as particularly vulnerable. Today's incident confirms our worst apprehensions".
A guard working near the bridge has gone missing, and rescue officials are trying to trace him, it said.
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"After the bridge collapse, a person working as a guard with SP Singla Company is said to be missing. His body has not been recovered yet. Search by SDRF and NDRF teams is underway to trace him," the report quoted an official as having said.
Meanwhile, state BJP president Samrat Choudhary has demanded the resignation of Nitish Kumar, who had snapped ties with the saffron party in August last year, it mentioned.
It added BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, a former Bhagalpur MP, also came out with a statement blaming the mishap on "corruption" and demanding a "high-level inquiry" into the incident.
