Bihar bridge collapses for 3rd time; 12th to fall this year
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Patna: In Bihar, a part of an under-construction bridge budgeted at Rs 1,710 crore collapsed on Saturday. The Aguwani-Sultanganj cable-stayed bridge is facing the fate for the third time in three years, The Indian Express reported.
It was a portion of the bridge between pillars numbers nine and ten collapsed this time, though no injuries were reported from the incident.
However, this is the 12 bridge collapse in the state since June 18 this year, also this year so far. Twelve bridges collapsed during the span of two months, which has incited safety concerns and the opposition insinuating corruption.
The bridge in question has been in the building for the last nine years, and it runs for 3.1 km across the Ganga River. It collapsed on April 27, 2022, and June 4, 2023, before. In both incidents, the bridge’s superstructure fell into the river below.
Following the series of collapses of bridges in the state, the Nitish Kumar government suspended 15 engineers earlier this year.
The Aguwani-Sultanganj bridge, which connects the northern and southern parts of the state, is considered as Nitish Kumar government’s flagship project. The bridge links the Kosi region in the state, which comprises districts of Khagaria, Saharsa, Madhepura and Supaul and to the districts of Bhagalpur, Munger and Jamui, as well as the Deoghar and Godda in the neighbouring state of Jharkhand. Despite the construction being started in 2014, only 45 per cent has been done so far.
The company, SP Singla Constructions Private Ltd, which is building the bridge, is working with Bihar state on other projects, such as a new cable bridge parallel to the existing Digha-Sonepur Rail-cum-Road Bridge near Patna. The company was already under scanner for the fall of Baluaha Ghat Kosi before its inauguration in 2013, when the state government issued them a tender for the Aguwani-Sultanganj bridge.
Recently, the company was tasked with constructing a parallel to Vikramshila Setu in Bhagalpur and is also undertaking other bridge projects in states such as Uttar Pradesh and Assam, The Indian Express reported.