A portion of an under-construction bridge over the Arga River collapsed in Jharkhand's Giridih district on Saturday. The incident occurred in Deori block, around 235 kilometres from Ranchi, due to heavy rain in the region on Saturday night, officials said, adding that no person was injured and a contractor has been instructed to rebuild the affected portion.
Vinay Kumar, Executive Engineer of the Road Construction Department in Giridih said that a single-span girder of the bridge collapsed due to heavy rain, causing a pillar to tilt. Another engineer mentioned that the casting on the girder was completed a week ago and required at least 28 days to strengthen.
The bridge over the Arga river was under construction at a cost of Rs 5 crore in Deori block to connect the remote villages of Giridih in Jharkhand and Jamui district in Bihar. However, due to heavy rain the girder of the bridge collapsed on Saturday night, damaging a huge portion of the structure, reported news agency PTI.
This incident adds to a series of mishaps involving bridges in Jharkhand’s neighbouring district Bihar. Over the past ten days, Bihar has experienced five bridge collapses, including incidents in Araria (June 18), Siwan (June 22), East Champaran (June 23), Kishanganj (June 26) and Madhubani (June 28).
The Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in Bihar has faced severe criticism for these mishaps. However, Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, an NDA ally and former Bihar chief minister, alleged a 'conspiracy' to 'defame' the state's NDA government, questioning the timing of the bridge collapse in the state.
"Two months ago, we didn’t witness any incidents of bridges collapsing in the state. Now, this is happening continuously and I suspect a conspiracy by a few people to insult the government," Manjhi noted, assuring that 'necessary' measures are being taken to prevent future occurrences.