Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar inaugurated the third phase of the JP Ganga Pathway, also known as the Marine Drive of Patna today (July 10). The 12.5 km stretch from Digha to Gaighat is already operational, and an additional 4.5 km stretch has been built, extending it to Patna Ghat. The JP Ganga Pathway is a significant project aimed at alleviating traffic congestion on the single-lane Ashok Rajpath, where widening the road is not feasible due to the dense construction on both sides.
However, the CM got angry on stage during the program and allegedly got up to touch the feet of an engineer. A visibly miffed CM during an interaction with an engineer said, "If you want... we will touch your feet..."
The reaction of the CM assumes significance as bridge collapse incidents have led to a political slugfest in the state. More than a dozen bridges and causeways collapsed in several Bihar districts in the last couple of weeks, prompting authorities to place under suspension at least 15 engineers, even though no casualties have taken place in such mishaps.
The Bihar government has 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, had said.
