Nitish Kumar faces flak after Rs 260 crore bridge fiasco

Patna: An approach road to a new bridge in Bihar, connecting Gopalganj to East Champaran, opened to the public a month ago by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was washed away due to heavy rains on Wednesday. As the Opposition attacked Nitish Kumar saying the bridge had collapsed, his government and party put out strong denials.

Sharing an image of the caved-in portion of the road on his Twitter handle, leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who had inaugurated the Sattarghat bridge on June 16.

The 1.44-km-long bridge, built at a cost of Rs 263.47 crore, reduced the distance between Gopalganj, Saran and East Champaran districts by 45 km.

Bihar Congress chief, Madan Mohan Jha also took potshots at the Chief Minister on Twitter. "The bridge was constructed at a cost of Rs 263.47 crore and inaugurated on June 16. It was washed away on July 15. Now, don't accuse rats for this," he wrote on Twitter.

The state government, however, quickly came out with a clarification that it was not the bridge itself that had collapsed.

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.

Nonetheless, images of the damaged pathway had gone viral on social media since the previous day.