PATNA: One more bridge caved in in Bihar's Jamui district on Saturday, triggering debate over the quality of material being used in the construction of bridges in the state.
Reports said that four pillars of the Sono Churhet Kajwe bridge over the Barnar River were damaged due to the heavy flow of water in the river. The officials, however, attributed the reason to heavy downpours in the region during the past 24 hours, which raised the water level in the swollen river.
Over a dozen villages under Sono block in the district have been completely cut off from the district headquarters. The movement of vehicles on the damaged river has also been stopped by the district administration as a precautionary measure.
“We have informed people about damage to pillars from six to 10 through the public address system. A team of officials is camping at the site to take stock of the damages caused in the river. The traffic on the damaged bridge has been stopped,” Sono block development officer (BDO) Rajesh Kumar said.
Station house officer (SHO) of Sono police station Chitranjan Kumar said that a police team led by sub-inspector Bipin Kumar has been deployed at the site to take stock of the situation and control the mob gathered after hearing the news about the collapse of the bridge.
On the other hand, residents alleged that the bridge got damaged due to illegal sand mining in the river.
“Illegal sand mining is going on unabated in the river, especially near the pillars. People of the area have earlier drawn the attention of the officials towards it,” said a resident Mukesh Shashtri.
On June 4, an under-construction bridge, which was supposed to connect Khagaria district with Bhagalpur, collapsed. Later another bridge in Kishanganj district caved in on June 24.
Opposition BJP took a jibe at the collapse of the bridge in Jamui district.
BJP leader Nikhil Anand said, “The state government should look into a series of bridges getting damaged in the state in the past year. Use of sub-standard quality of material is perhaps the main reason behind it.”