advertisementPrasad's remarks came hours after another bridge collapsed in Bihar's Saran district on Thursday, the twelfth such incident in the state in a span of 17 days.
The bridges that have collapsed in the past fortnight were in Siwan, Saran, Madhubani, Araria, East Champaran and Kishanganj districts.
"Six bridges collapsed on the river Gandak in Siwan and Saran on July 3 and July 4.
RJD leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav tweeted, "Twelve bridges have collapsed in Bihar since June 18...
Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar are silent over these incidents in Bihar.
Amidst the growing concerns over back-to-back bridge collapse incidents in Bihar, which saw 12 such cases in just over a fortnight, Chaitanya Prasad, the Additional Chief Secretary of the state Water Resources Department, on Thursday poingted to the potential lapses by engineers and contractors involved in recent de-siltation efforts.
Addressing reporters at an event in Patna, Prasad accused engineers of not exercising proper care and said that the contractors were not diligent either.
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Prasad's remarks came hours after another bridge collapsed in Bihar's Saran district on Thursday, the twelfth such incident in the state in a span of 17 days. The bridges that have collapsed in the past fortnight were in Siwan, Saran, Madhubani, Araria, East Champaran and Kishanganj districts.
"Six bridges collapsed on the river Gandak in Siwan and Saran on July 3 and July 4. It appears that engineers didn’t exercise proper care, and contractors were not diligent either," he said.
"Engineers concerned seem at fault prima facie. Special flying squads have been dispatched to the sites with a deadline of Friday to submit their report," Prasad added.
When asked about the corrective measures taken by the Bihar government, Prasad said, "New bridges will be constructed, and the cost will be imposed on the contractors found guilty".
"Most of these bridges were thirty years old with shallow foundations. These foundations were eroded during de-siltation," he pointed out.
The Additional Chief Secretary also said that all bridges surpassing thirty years of service will be inspected for faults, and necessary repairs will be promptly executed.
The increasing number of bridge collapses in Bihar has made national headlines, prompting opposition parties like the RJD to demand accountability from the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government.
RJD leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav tweeted, "Twelve bridges have collapsed in Bihar since June 18... Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar are silent over these incidents in Bihar. What happened to the claims of good governance and corruption-free government? These incidents show how corruption is rampant in every department of the state government."
Meanwhile, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Chaudhary, earlier in the day, said that Nitish Kumar has given a clear instruction to officials concerned to conduct a survey of all old bridges in the state and identify those that require immediate repair.
"The Chief Minister has also asked departments concerned to immediately prepare their respective maintenance policy for bridges or causeways in the state," Chaudhary said, adding that the government has already ordered a probe into the bridge collapse incidents to find out the reasons and strict action would be taken against the guilty.
Published By: Sahil Sinha Published On: Jul 4, 2024
