Bihar Bridge Collapse: Show Cause Notice Issued To Company, Executive Engineer Suspended

The Additional Chief Secretary for the road construction department, Pratyay Amrit, also said that the executive engineer concerned has been suspended, reported PTI.

Bihar Bridge Collapse: Show Cause Notice Issued To Company, Executive Engineer Suspended ( Image Source :ANI )

New Delhi: Days after an under-construction bridge over the river Ganga collapsed in Bhagalpur, the Bihar government on Tuesday slapped a show-cause notice on the construction company involved in the construction of the bridge.

The Additional Chief Secretary for the road construction department, Pratyay Amrit, also said that the executive engineer concerned has been suspended, reported PTI.

"The Haryana-based company, which was awarded the contract, has been served with a show cause notice by the Managing Director of Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam and asked to reply within 15 days", Amrit told PTI.

Notably, earlier on Sunday, an under-construction bridge over the Ganga river collapsed in Bihar, portions of which were deliberately destroyed in a planned fashion under expert advice as it had design flaws, claimed state government officials.

The bridge was supposed to connect Khagaria district with Bhagalpur.

The company has been asked to explain why it should not be blacklisted by the government and further action taken against it, he said.

"The department has also suspended the executive engineer concerned for his failure to keep an eye on the quality of the work", added the Additional Chief Secretary.

Deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav had earlier indicated that portions of the bridge had been demolished earlier in a planned fashion and the final collapse indicated that fears about the structural stability of the bridge were correct.

The incident took place a year after another portion had collapsed during a thunderstorm.

The under-construction bridge involved a cost of over Rs 1,700 crore and was supposed to be completed by 2019.

As images of the collapsing portion were beamed on media outlets, the state BJP president reacted strongly and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Choudhary said the incident shows that “corruption is rampant” under the rule of the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government.