PATNA: A portion of the under-construction Sultanganj-Aguwani Ghatbridge connecting Bhagalpur to Khagaria district collapsed and fell into the Ganga river in Bihar on Saturday.
This is the third time that the underconstruction bridge has collapsed since its construction work started.
The devotees capture the entire incident in their mobile phone cameras and uploaded it on social media sites, raising concern over the quality of the construction material. “There was a loud sound, and the superstructure of the under-construction bridge fell into the river,” eyewitnesses said.
The bridge is being constructed by a private firm—SK Singhla Construction Private Limited—at an estimated cost of Rs.1,710 crore to connect Sultanganj in Bhagalpur with Aguwani Ghat in Khagaria district.
The bridge is being constructed to ease traffic congestion on the Vikramshila bridge, a critical link in the region.
The bridge collapses again in two months span
The last time a portion of the bridge had collapsed on June 4, 2023. The earlier collapse of the structure between pillar numbers 10 and 12 in Khagaria side led to widespread criticism of the state government.
Taking a serious note of the incident, state government penalised S K Singhla Construction Private Limited and mandated that the bridge be built at the company’s expense. Later the Patna high court issued directives to rectify design if need be.
Another section of the bridge between pillar numbers 5 and 6 on the Bhagalpur side collapsed on June 30, 2022. Frequent incidents of collapse of the under-construction bridge have already delayed the dream project of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.
Although no clarification has been issued by the construction firm. Experts, however, claimed that misalignment was the possible reason behind the repeated collapse of the under-construction bridge.
The foundation stone for the 3.16-km bridge was laid on February 23, 2014, with construction beginning on March 9, 2015. The state government allocated Rs.1,710 crore to the project, highlighting its significance as a major infrastructure initiative.
Meanwhile, a senior official of the state government came out with a clarification that the section of the bridge collapsed when labourers were doing work on the bridge. However, no casualties have been reported.