Araria bridge collapse: three engineers suspended, contractor booked

Araria: Minister Ashok Choudhary of the Bihar Rural Works Department has assembled a four-person team led by chief engineer Purnea to investigate the occurrence.

Araria: In response to the collapse of a recently constructed bridge in the Araria district the day before, three engineers from Bihar’s rural works department were sent on leave on Wednesday.
Bihar State Rural Works Department Minister Ashok Choudhary announced the suspension of Anjani Kumar, an assistant engineer who oversaw the executive engineer, and two junior engineers, Manish Kumar and Birendra Ram.
He continued by saying that contractor Sirajur Rahman in Araria had also been the subject of a first information report. However, despite several tries, a copy of the FIR could not be provided.

A four-person team led by chief engineer Purnea has been assembled to investigate the occurrence in the meantime.

“I have assembled a high-level probe team consisting of four members, led by the chief engineer of the Purnia works division, to carry out an extensive technical examination of the project. The inquiry team will look into the depth of the bridge’s foundation, the amount and caliber of materials used in the substructure, superstructure, and foundation, as well as the quality of the work performed. The findings and recommendations will be provided within a week, the minister stated.
Chief engineer Nirmal Kumar spoke over the phone and said, “We will visit the site on Thursday to find out the reasons behind the collapse of the bridge before we can say anything in this regard.”

At an estimated cost of roughly Rs. 12 crore, a 183-meter-long bridge was being constructed to span the Bakra River and connect the Sikti and Kursakanta blocks of the Araria district. Due to the incomplete approach road, it was not made available for traffic. The fall was claimed to have caused no casualties.

“Had it been opened, it would have been a serious accident,” a senior officer stated.