PATNA: Days after a key under-construction bridge collapsed in majestic Ganga, the Bihar government has ordered a probe into the incident, suspended the project engineer, and issued a notice to the private construction company.
The collapsed bridge, intended to connect the districts of Khagaria and Bhagalpur, collapsed like a house of cards in a matter of seconds on Sunday, promoting allegations of corruption in the Grand Alliance government.
The bridge had collapsed last year as well and chief minister Nitish Kumar has vowed to fix accountability and take strict action against culprits. The projects is said to be a pet project of CM Kumar.
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Bihar’s department of road construction has suspended an executive engineer and served a notice to the construction company, SP Singla Constructions Pvt. Ltd. Additionally, it has also sought a written explanation from Bridge Construction Corporation managing director Neeraj Saxena. Questions have been raised as to why the construction agency has not been included in the blacklist. The company has been given a 15-day deadline to respond.
Pratyay Amrit, the additional chief secretary of the road construction department, said that a show-cause notice has been issued to SP Singla Constructions, demanding a comprehensive report on the incident.
Immediate measures have been ordered to dismantle the remaining span on the Aguwani Ghat side. Furthermore, the agency has been instructed to remove the debris from the Ganges within 15 days to protect the dolphin sanctuary from pollution.
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He emphasized that accountability will be fixed and the responsible persons will not be exempted.
The officer said that if the construction agency is found culpable, the government will recover approximately ₹600 crores based on the risk and cost incurred for the construction. Moreover, a bank guarantee of ₹200 crore rupees will be seized.
Opposition parties have flagged repeated delays and the quality of the bridge construction. Videos capturing the moment of the bridge collapse have circulated on social media.
Meanwhile, Bihar minister Tej Pratap Yadav made a weird statement, alleging that the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is responsible for the collapse.