Varanasi: All employees and officers of Uttar Pradesh Setu Nigam will donate their one-day salary for victims of Varanasi bridge collapse. The decision has been taken with the agreement of all the engineers and workers of the corporation, as per Zee Media reports.


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At least 18 people were killed on Tuesday after a portion of the flyover being built by the state-run corporation collapsed on a busy road in Varanasi as it crushed a mini bus, cars and two-wheelers. The Uttar Pradesh Bridge Construction Corporation was constructing the 2261-metre-long bridge at a cost of Rs 129 crore. The span which fell was laid barely three months ago.


UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has set up a three-member committee to probe the flyover collapse. He announced a Rs five lakh ex-gratia to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs two lakh to the seriously injured. 


An FIR has been registered against concerned officials and contractors under sections 304, 308 and 427.


The state-run corporation, which had once earned kudos bagging projects not only in other states but also in Iraq, Yemen and Nepal, has been at the receiving end recently, a senior official of the PWD department was quoted as saying by PTI. In 2010, the 1086.62 meter Chillgahat bridge connecting Fatehpur with Bundelkhand region, built at the cost of Rs 650 crore, developed cracks within 13 days of the inauguration, he recalled. In 2016, a cavity developed on the Lohia bridge in Lucknow, providing an arterial link between posh and VIP areas on either side of the Gomti river. 


(With PTI inputs)