Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar inaugurated the Sattarghat bridge also known as Ramjanki path on Gandak River in Gopalganj district on June 16. And on July 15, just 29 days after it was inaugurated, the bridge on the Gandak River collapsed.
In a video that is making the rounds on the internet, a portion of the Sattarghat Bridge in Gopalganj is seen crumbling into the river, after the water level of the river increased. This happened as Bihar is witnessing heavy monsoon rainfall for the last four days.
According to reports, the culverts connecting the road to the bridge could not stand the pressure of the increasing water levels. Large tracts around the region are under floodwaters.
Tejashwi Yadav, Congress attack Bihar CM on the issue
Taking a dig at Nitish Kumar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav and the Congress attacked the Chief Minister on the issue.
Tejashwi Yadav, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, taunted Kumar saying, beware, if someone called it corruption of Nitish Kumar.
He said that Kumar would not utter a word in this matter.
Tejashwi posted a picture and video of the culvert and road on his official Twitter handle, saying, "The bridge was built in 8 years at a cost of Rs 263 crore but it collapsed in just 29 days. Bhishma Pitamah of organized corruption Nitish ji will neither speak a word, nor will he sack the corrupt Minister who claims to give Range Rover experiance through a bicycle ride. There is loot in Bihar everywhere."
In another tweet, he wrote in sarcasm, "Nitish ji inaugurated the Sattar Ghat bridge of Gopalganj constructed at a cost of Rs 263.47 crore in 8 years, on June 16. Just 29 days later this bridge has collapsed. Beware! If someone calls it corruption of Nitish ji? Rs 263 crore is just a gift. His rats drink liquor worth this amount."
A minister in 2017 had blamed rats for making holes in the embankments which led to the collapse of the structure.
Congress also targeted the Nitish government. Senior Congress leader and former state president of Youth Congress Lallan Kumar said this is the result of the corruption of the BJP-JDU government. The investigation of the one scam has not even been completed yet and now this. Such a big scam has surfaced on the Ramjanaki path.
He said now ministers and officials will share the spoils of the loot. He said that crores of rupees are spent every year in the name of repair of roads during floods, which is like a celebration for leaders and officials of the ruling party.
The Ramjanaki path which was inaugurated just a month ago could not withstand the pressure of Gandak river in the Gopalganj district of Bihar and collapsed, creating hindrance to the traffic on this route.
With this, the contact with several districts of North Bihar was lost due to road link snap-in Khomhaipur in Baikunthpur block of Gopalganj district.
This road mainly connects Kesariya and Baikunthpur in East Champaran. An amount of about Rs 263 crore was spent in the construction of the bridge, culvert and approach road.
(With agency inputs)
