An under-construction bridge collapsed in Motihari (East Champaran)

An under-construction bridge collapsed in Motihari (East Champaran)

Patna June 23: In yet another road bridge collapsed in Bihar. This time in East Champaran district when an under-construction 40-foot-long road bridge collapsed in the wee hours of Sunday.

This was the third incident when a bridge collapsed in Bihar in the last 5 days. Earlier, a road bridge on the Bakra River in Araria district collapsed on June 18. That bridge collapsed just before the inauguration and its cost was Rs 12 crore. Another old bridge collapsed in Bihar’s Siwan district on June 22. 

In East Champaran, the incident occurred on the Ghodasahan block around 12.30 am. The construction of the bridge was underway under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana with the cost of Rs 1 crore 59 lakh 25 thousand 602. The 40-foot-long bridge was built between the Amwa village of Ghodasahan block and the Chainpur railway station.

The bridge was built by Motihari’s Dhiraj Construction Private Limited. Its foundation stone was laid by Rama Devi, former BJP MP of Sheohar on March 10 this year.

The villagers claimed that the material being used in the construction of the bridge was of low quality. The bridge is not being constructed as per the estimate and its alignment was not in the right direction. As a result, it collapsed along with the casting.

“The bridge collapsed due to the irregularities being done in the construction. A high-level investigation is needed here. The engineer is constructing the bridge in the wrong direction and also using low-grade materials. This is the reason why the bridge collapsed,” said a villager Deepak Kumar Singh.

“The bridge is being constructed in two spans. The casting of the bridge was done from one side on Saturday. After that, last night dozens of anti-social elements came to the construction site in some vehicles and broke the centering of the bridge. Due to this, the bridge collapsed. The administrative officer has been informed about this,” said SN Mandal, Executive Engineer, PWD Dhaka sub-division of East Champaran district.

EOM.