The Nitish Kumar government was in for a major embarrassment after a portion of a bridge that was inaugurated last month got washed away in the swelling waters of river Gandak. On Wednesday, a portion of the approach road, just before the bridge, got completely washed away giving the Opposition an opportune moment to reproach state government.
The bridge was inaugurated by Nitish Kumar on 16 June and in less than one month a portion of it caved in.
The Opposition is now raking up the issue and wants a Judicial or CBI probe into the issue. The bridge had taken nearly 8 years to be completed and had cost Rs 263.48 crore. The bridge flowing within the Ramayan circuit is an important connecting link between East Champaran and Gopalganj, as well as Saran and Siwan districts. Talking to The Daily Guardian, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said, “This government is completely embroiled in corruption. In the last 15 years, there have been 55 scams in the state. The rats eat away embankments here, and a bridge after getting inaugurated collapses in 29 days.”
The local BJP MLA Mithiesh Tiwari, however, blamed the engineers and the local authorities while giving a clean chit to the Bihar CM. He said that he would raise the issue in Vidhan Sabha and that the officials deliberately did this to get Nitish Kumar a bad name.
On the other hand, the JD-U has reacted sharply to the allegations. Minister Neeraj Kumar said, “Lalu is in jail for corruption and his uneducated son is trying to level allegations on the present government without even knowing the facts.”
Meanwhile, the repair work at the breach site has started on a war footing.