Patna: A portion of Sattarghat Bridge on Gandak River that was inaugurated by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar last month in Gopalganj collapsed on Wednesday after water flow increased in the river due to heavy rainfall.
The bridge was inaugurated by the Chief Minister on June 16.
Many districts in north Bihar have lost connectivity as the bridge has been washed away. At the same time, the pressure of water has also increased at the Saran embankment and if the situation remains the same then Saran district will also be affected by floods.
Administration officials took stock of the situation on Wednesday evening. The team of engineer Abhay Kumar Prabhat, team leader of the bridge corporation, reached and assessed the damage.
The Road Construction Department issued a statement, saying the caved-in portion of the road was situated "two kilometres away from the bridge" and that it was the approach route for an 18-metre-long causeway that leads to the Sattarghat bridge.
"The causeway, too, is intact. The damage to the road is not the result of any defect in construction but due to increased water pressure on the Gopalganj side. The road will be made ready for traffic as soon as the floods subside," the statement said.
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.
"The approach slab that has collapsed is 2 km away from the main Sattarghat Bridge; no damages have been caused to any bridge. Just the approach slab of a minor bridge has collapsed," Nand Kishore Yadav, Bihar Road Construction Minister said.
In 2017, a minister in Nitish Kumar's cabinet had blamed rats for making holes in the embankments for weakening the structures and allowing river water breach through them, thus resulting in floods in Bihar.
READ: Flood situation worsens in Bihar's Gopalganj; 25,000 people affected
Yet another time police in the state had blamed rats for the seized bottles of liquor missing from police station stores in the state.
Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav slammed Nitish Kumar for collapsing of the bridge.
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8 वर्ष में 263.47 करोड़ की लागत से निर्मित गोपालगंज के सत्तर घाट पुल का 16 जून को नीतीश जी ने उद्घाटन किया था आज 29 दिन बाद यह पुल ध्वस्त हो गया।
— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) July 15, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
ख़बरदार!अगर किसी ने इसे नीतीश जी का भ्रष्टाचार कहा तो?263 करोड़ तो सुशासनी मुँह दिखाई है।इतने की तो इनके चूहे शराब पी जाते है pic.twitter.com/cnlqx96VVQ
">8 वर्ष में 263.47 करोड़ की लागत से निर्मित गोपालगंज के सत्तर घाट पुल का 16 जून को नीतीश जी ने उद्घाटन किया था आज 29 दिन बाद यह पुल ध्वस्त हो गया।
— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) July 15, 2020
ख़बरदार!अगर किसी ने इसे नीतीश जी का भ्रष्टाचार कहा तो?263 करोड़ तो सुशासनी मुँह दिखाई है।इतने की तो इनके चूहे शराब पी जाते है pic.twitter.com/cnlqx96VVQ8 वर्ष में 263.47 करोड़ की लागत से निर्मित गोपालगंज के सत्तर घाट पुल का 16 जून को नीतीश जी ने उद्घाटन किया था आज 29 दिन बाद यह पुल ध्वस्त हो गया।
— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) July 15, 2020
ख़बरदार!अगर किसी ने इसे नीतीश जी का भ्रष्टाचार कहा तो?263 करोड़ तो सुशासनी मुँह दिखाई है।इतने की तो इनके चूहे शराब पी जाते है pic.twitter.com/cnlqx96VVQ
"The bridge washed away after around 29 days of inauguration. The bridge was being constructed for eight years. Washing away of bridges has become a common thing in Nitish Kumar's rule. Did he inaugurate the bridge before time just to gain some appreciation? We demand that the Bihar government should immediately blacklist the company that has constructed the bridge," said Yadav.
"A dam collapsed in Kahalgaon on the day of the inauguration...even rats damage the bridges in Bihar. How will the money be recovered if the bridges keep on collapsing? The Chief Minister committed 55 scams in 15 years. By paying money in RCP tax, as long as transfer posting takes place, the bridge will keep collapsing," he alleged.
Yadav added that that the Chief Minister should give an answer to the public and media.
"In Bihar, 16,000 rape cases have been reported in 15 years. Women and girls are being raped amid the lockdown. Around 1,900 rape cases were reported in 2019. Where is good governance? Rapes are taking place in isolation wards, Nitish's conscience has drowned in the Bay of Bengal," said Yadav.
The ruling JD(U)-BJP combine hit back at the RJD leader.
JD(U) leader and Information and Public Relations Minister Neeraj Kumar, party spokesman Rajiv Ranjan Prasad and BJP spokesman Nikhil Anand came out with strongly-worded statements, denouncing the opposition leader for "peddling lies".
As per the state disaster management department, both Gopalganj and East Champaran are among a total of eight flood-affected districts in the state.
A total of 2.18 lakh people across 137 panchayats have been affected by the floods caused by heavy rainfall, upto 45 per cent above normal, in the catchment areas of neighbouring Nepal where rivers like Gandak and Kosi originate.
As of now, 3,676 people residing in badly hit areas have been evacuated. 2,731 put up at relief camps while more than 15,000 people were depending on 29 community kitchens set up for feeding those affected by the calamity.
READ: Bihar continues to battle floods as water levels in rivers rise
(Inputs from Agencies)
