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Journalism of Courage
A 200-metre stretch of an under-construction bridge over the Ganga in Bihar collapsed on Sunday, just over a year after another similar incident involving the same bridge.
According to a PTI report, the Bihar government said that the collapsed part was deliberately pulled down because experts had flagged design flaws in the structure. The construction of the 3.1-kilometre-long bridge connecting Aguani in Khagaria district with Sultanganj in Bhagalpur began in 2014 and was expected to be completed in 2019. The deadline has since been extended four times.
The bridge was being built by SP Singla Constructions Private Limited at a cost of Rs 1,710 crore.
According to PTI, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and Additional Chief Secretary of Road Construction Department, Pratyay Amrit, held a press conference on Sunday after images of the collapsed bridge were shared widely on social media, inviting criticism from the BJP.
“It may be recalled that a portion of this bridge had collapsed on April 30 last year. We had, thereafter, approached IIT-Roorkee to conduct a study,” Yadav said. Amrit said, “It was decided that we must not take any chance and wait for a final report. So we went ahead with pulling down parts of the bridge. It was a part of such a preventive exercise”. —With PTI
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