"No casualties in Aguwani-Sultanganj Ganga bridge collapse so far": Southern Bhagalpur SDM

Bhagalpur (Bihar) [India], June 6 : No casualties have been reported in the collapse of the bridge in Bihar's Bhagalpur that occurred on Sunday, said Southern Bhagalpur Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Dhananjay Kumar.

"The SDRF teams are carrying out search operations continuously and no casualties have been reported in the mishap till now," Kumar said while talking to ANI.

On Sunday, an under-construction Aguwani-Sultanganj bridge in Bhagalpur collapsed.

The moment when the bridge collapsed in the Ganga River was caught on video by locals.

However, the collapse of the bridge in Bihar's Bhagalpur stoked a war of words between the state government and the opposition BJP.

Following the bridge collapse, the Leader of the Opposition in Bihar Vijay Kumar Sinha slammed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's governance and said, "There is a tradition of seeking commission (bribe) in this government. It is a consequence of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's mentality of political instability that there's administrative anarchy and corruption. The system is collapsing but they are talking about Opposition unity."

He further stated that there should be an immediate enquiry into the incident. "There needs to be accountability in this incident. Those involved in corruption in the government have fixed their commissions. Where is your zero tolerance on corruption?" he added.

Soon after the collapse of the bridge, CM Nitish Kumar ordered a probe into the collapse of an under-construction bridge in Bhagalpur and asked the officials to identify those responsible for the incident. Nitish Kumar on Monday said he has instructed officials to take strict action against those responsible for the "poor construction work" of the under-construction bridge over River Ganga.

"The bridge that collapsed yesterday had collapsed last year also. I have instructed the authorities concerned to look into the matter seriously. It is not being constructed correctly that's why it is collapsing again and again. The department will look into it, I have instructed officials to visit the site and action will be taken," said CM Nitish Kumar.

Kumar said he instructed officials to visit the site of the Aguani-Sultanganj bridge and vowed strict action against those responsible.

CM expressed his disappointment over the delay in the completion of the bridge and said that together with his deputy Tejashwi Yadav they will instruct for the completion of the bridge as soon as possible.