Hours after reports came in that a portion of a bridge in Bihar has collapsed, the state's Minister for the Road Construction Department has issued a clarification, stating that no bridge has collapsed.
While news agency ANI had shared a video earlier in the day, to state that a portion of Sattarghat Bridge on the Gandak River had collapsed on Wednesday after water flow increased in the river due to heavy rainfall, Minister Nand Kishore Yadav countered this with his own video and tweet.
Tagging the news agency in his post, Yadav said that "no damages have been caused to any bridge". He added that this was "fake news".
"The approach slab that has collapsed is two kilometres away from the main Sattarghat Bridge, no damages have been caused to any bridge. Just the approach slab of a minor bridge has collapsed," he said.
In follow-up tweets he explained further, stating that there was higher water pressure towards Gopalganj, and because of this, part of the road had led to bridge had collapsed. "This erosion has not damaged the structure of the small bridge. The main seventy ghat bridge, which is 1.6 km long, is completely safe," he added.
Earlier, the ANI report had stated that a portion of the Sattarghat Bridge that had been inaugurated by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar less than a month ago by had collapsed.
The bridge, constructed at a cost of Rs 263.48 crore, aimed to reduce road distance between different towns of East Champaran to Gopalganj, Siwan and Saran districts.
(With inputs from agencies)
