After the Sultanganj-Aguwani ghat bridge over river Ganga collapsed on June 4 in Bihar’s Khagaria district, the ruling Janata Dal(U) MLA from Parbatta Assembly constituency Sanjeev Kumar held the head of the State Road Construction Department responsible for the incident.
However, Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA from Ramgarh Sudhakar Singh on June 8 disagreed and asked why Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who is the head of the State, should not held responsible for the accident.
Members of both the ruling alliance parties have questioned the Nitish Kumar-led government over the bridge collapse incident.
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“Since 2021, I have been raising the issue of design and structural defects of the bridge in the State Assembly, almost every year. Once I had briefed the Road Construction Department Additional Chief Secretary Pratyaya Amrit with pictures of pillars numbers 10& 11 showing cracks in them but, he assured me that the pillars would be dismantled and everything will be okay. Nothing happened and this bridge worth several crores collapsed on June 4. I hold him [Mr. Pratyaya Amri] responsible for the collapse”, Dr. Sanjeev Kumar told The Hindu.
He also expressed dismay over the fact that the Chief Minister has asked the department secretary to probe the incident. “How can a person who is responsible for the bridge collapse do justice with the investigation,” he asked while, demanding that the investigation be conducted by a High Court judge.
“I’ve sought an appointment with the Chief Minister to brief him all about the bridge collapse,” the JD(U) MLA said.
The bridge worth ₹1,717 crore connected the Aguwani ghat in Khagaria to Sultanganj in Bhagalpur district. “Till now as many as 24 people too have died in the construction of the bridge, among those several are villagers and FIRs have been lodged in the incidents. Now who should be held responsible for the lost lives,” he asked.
One of the guards (of the company constructing the bridge) on duty Vibhas Yadav has gone missing since the collapse. His family members are protesting on the ghat, near the incident site demanding to know his whereabouts and seeking compensation.
When asked about the JD(U) MLA holding him responsible for the bridge collapse, Mr. Pratyaya Amrit said, “I’ve nothing to say”.
Mr. Pratyaya, a 1991 batch IAS officer of the Bihar cadre, was promoted to the rank of additional chief secretary in April 2021. He took over as Managing Director of Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam (BRPNN) in 2006 which functions under Road Construction Department (RCD). Mr. Amrit was made Managing Director of Bihar State Road Development Corporation in February 2011 and the Chairman & Managing Director of Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited in June 2014. Significantly, in 2011, Mr. Amrit had received Prime Minister’s Excellence Award in Public Administration and the facilitation certificate of the award reads, “Bridging the gap: For turning around a dying Bihar State Bridge Construction Corporation into a profit-making unit”.
Meanwhile, on June 8, Mr. Singh asked why Mr. Kumar should not be held responsible for the bridge collapse. “If the JD(U) MLA holds the secretary of the department responsible for the bridge collapse, I’ve to say the department secretary works under the Chief Minister, so why should the Chief Minister not be held responsible for this,” he asked.
Mr. Singh had resigned as State Agriculture Minister after backing Mr. Kumar into a corner over corruption in his department.
Both the ruling party legislators have embarrassed the government with their statements on bridge collapse, a senior RJD leader said. The government should take action soon, he added.
