Bihar: Another under-construction bridge collapsed in Bihar's Madhubani district on Friday, making it the fifth such incident in the last 11 days. The latest incident has been reported from the Bheja police station area of Madhubani district, situated in the state's northern extreme, along the borders with Nepal.
Officials were tight-lipped about the incident, though sources in the Rural Works Department, which was entrusted with the construction of the 75-metre-long bridge, confirmed that one of the pillars got washed away a few days ago.
On Thursday, a part of the long girder collapsed between two pillars of this 77 meter long bridge. To hide this negligence, the administration covered the broken part with plastic, so that people could not know about the bridge collapse.
The estimated cost of this bridge, which is being built by the Rural Development Department of Bihar Government under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana, is around Rs 3 crore.
The girder of this bridge was cast three days ago i.e. on June 26, which collapsed on Thursday. In this entire matter, contractor Amarnath Jha said that the girder fell due to increase in the water level in the river. He also claimed that the bridge will be rebuilt after the water level in the river subsides.
Opposition corners Nitish Govt
Opposition has been targrting Chief Minister Nitish Kumar after around five bridges collapsed in the state within 11 days saying it has exposed the negligence of Bihar government.
The opposition has also started cornering the Nitish government over the ongoing issues of negligence and corruption in bridge construction in Bihar. Serious questions are being raised on the construction standards and inspection of Bihar.
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