Bihar: A portion of a bridge that was built across Burhi Gandak River in Sahebpur Kamal, Begusarai collapsed and fell into the river on Sunday. The bridge had developed cracks a few days back, eventually a portion of the mid section of bridge broke n collapsed into the river flowing underneath.
Key bridge for connectivity of 3 villages
The bridge was essential for connectivity as it connected a population of 20,000 people from three village panchayats to the National Highway-31 passing through Bihar. There was no life loss reported in the incident.
The 206-meter-long bridge was under construction, being built over the Burhi Gandak river, located near Sahebpur Kamal. Ma Bhagwati Construction from Begusarai was carrying out the bridge's construction works under the state government’s road construction department (RCD) at an approximate cost of Rs 13 crore.
Locals using since 2017 without inauguration
The construction was started in 2016 and allegedly from 2017, the bridge was used by locals to walk through and carry light vehicles through.
Even if the inauguration of bridge was not done, there was mild traffic allowed on the bridge. However cracks were seen developed in pillar numbers 2 and 3 on Thursday and movement of vehicles were stopped.
Investigations have started to probe the incident said a police official. A local public representative expressed extreme distress saying that the materials used in the bridge were not upto the mark. Also he demanded a high level probe over the incident as the bridge couldn't even last for 5 years and collapsed.
(To receive our E-paper on WhatsApp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
