BJP targets Bihar govt as under-construction bridge subsides in Muzaffarpur

Muzaffarpur: Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Darbhanga MP Kirti Azad took on the Bihar government on Saturday after a 98-metre long under-construction bridge subsided here.

The under-construction bridge over a stream of Bagmati and Lakhandei rivers in Muzaffarpur district collapsed on Friday after its middle pillar ran aground.

Azad took the JDU-RJD alliance in state to task over this, and tweeted, "'Dekhiye Bihar Sarkar ka sushasan, udghatan se pehle pul toota, Dushashan aur Duryudhan ka toh abhi Milan hi hua hai.' (Look at the rule of Bihar government, a bridge has collapsed even before completion.)"

'dehiye Bihar Sarkar ka sushasan, udghatan se pehle pul toota, Dushashan aur Duryudhan ka toh abhi Milan hi hua hai pic.twitter.com/13xnsqQGjU — Kirti Azad (@KirtiAzadMP) August 30, 2014

The bridge subsided on Friday evening and nobody was injured as the workers and officials had left for the day.

The Rs 7 crore bridge, located at Katra-Kevatsa route in Aurai block of the district was supposed to provide a stable road link to 15 panchayats populated by over 1 lakh people, which get cut-off from the district headquarters during the monsoon due to swirling rivers.

The project is a brainchild of Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam (BRPNN) and was being constructed with the help of NABARD.

"The bridge collapsed after its middle pier gave way. Our chief engineer has gone to the spot to probe the incident. We will be able to say what had happened there only after he submits his report," BRPNN Chairman Sridhar C said.

The site where the bridge was located is not a defined river and the construction was being done by taking into consideration 7-metre depth of water, BRPNN Muzaffarpur Project Engineer B K Singh said.

"Our estimate is that more water came to the stream this time from different routes. It was unexpected, and hit the pillar from an angle. It could have collapsed due to the pressure of water," said Singh.

Work on the bridge had started in February 2014 and was supposed to be completed by August next year, but its contractor was trying to finish it before the deadline.

With PTI Inputs