Bhagalpur bridge collapse: Bihar govt issues show cause notice to construction company
2 min read 06 Jun 2023, 08:55 PM ISTBhagalpur bridge collapse: As per details, the bridge was constructed to link Bhagalpur and Khagaria districts over the river Ganges, involving a cost of over ₹1,770 crore and was supposed to be completed by 2019.
PremiumFollowing the collapse of the Aguwani-Sultanganj bridge in Bhagalpur on Sunday evening, Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government on 6 June issued a show cause notice on the construction company.
"A show cause notice is being issued to the construction company, and action will be taken against the contractors and engineers involved in the project who have already been removed. The bridge will be constructed in a time-bound manner as it is a dream project of CM," news agency ANI quoted Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav as saying.
As per details, the bridge was constructed to link Bhagalpur and Khagaria districts over the river Ganges, involving a cost of over ₹1,770 crore, and was supposed to be completed by 2019. CM Nitish Kumar laid the foundation stone of the structure in February 2014.
"When I was in opposition, I had raised the issue regarding pier number 5 of the bridge and at that time minister handed over the investigation to IIT Roorkee, and later based on reports from IIT a decision to demolish the pier has taken," said Tejashwi further.
Meanwhile, Tej Pratap Yadav accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of demolishing the bridge. He said, "BJP has demolished the bridge. We are building the bridge and they are demolishing it."
Among others, a PIL has been filed in the Patna High Court where an independent inquiry into the collapse of the Aguwani-Sultanganj bridge in Bihar's Bhagalpur was sought.
In his writ petition, the petitioner Manibhushan Pratap Sengar sought an independent probe instead of a departmental inquiry and action against SP Singla Company which is involved with the construction of the bridge. Apart from this, Sengar sought recovery of losses of thousands of crores to the exchequer due to the bridge's collapse.
On Tuesday, Additional Chief Secretary for Bihar Road Construction Department Pratyaya Amrit said the investigation into the collapse of the under-construction bridge in Bihar's Bhagalpur will be completed soon adding that a new bridge shall be constructed.
"We will try to complete the investigation at the earliest. We have served a show-cause notice to SP Singla and Company as to why they should not be blacklisted. They have been given 15-day time to reply. For serious dereliction of duty, the Executive Engineer of Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam posted at Khagaria has been put under suspension and departmental proceedings have started. The Managing Director of Bihar Bridge Construction Corporation has also been showing caused why there was a delay when the instructions were very clear to demolish Pier 5. A new bridge will be constructed. We will try to prioritize it so that the work on this can start after the monsoon," Amrit said.
With agency inputs.
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