Twitter
Advertisement

West Bengal: Under-construction bridge collapses in Kakdwip, opposition slams government

Another bridge collapses in Bengal.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

After Majerhat and Siliguri bridge collapse, an under construction bridge collapsed at Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas on Monday morning, the third within a month in West Bengal.

The bridge was being built across Kalnagini river. The foundation stone of the bridge had been laid by Sunderban development minister Manturam Pakhira about three years ago and construction had begun about two years ago. Nearly half of the 120-metre long bridge had been completed. It was supposed to join Steamer Ghat area with Narsimha Ashram.

There had been no reports of any casualty so far owing to the bridge collapse as the accident happened around 9 am, a little before labourers started working. Area locals said that they had reported many flaws in the bridge building process but authorities didn’t pay any heed to those.

Officials of Kakdwip and Harwood Point Coastal police stations, along with engineers of the Sunderban Development department rushed to the spot. Pakhira shifted the blame of the bridge collapse on the agency which was building it. “The bridge was being built by joining girders. Officials of the contractor agency had removed the support from under the girders without consulting engineers of my department. That is why the accident happened,” Pakhira said. He also said that he had instructed police to file an FIR against the construction company to check whether sub-standard building materials were being used.

Newly appointed state Congress president Somen Mitra said, “Back to back collapse of bridges and flyovers prove that the state government is not only a failure in case of maintenance of old structures but is also hopeless when it comes to building new ones.”

Senior minister of Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet Partha Chatterjee, refused to acknowledge it as a bridge in the first place. “It is not even constructed. So we will have to reconsider before calling it a bridge. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is on a foreign trip at the moment, had said that she will order a review of all the technical aspects of the bridges of Bengal,” he said.

On September 4, three persons died and 24 were left injured after Majerhat bridge in south Kolkata collapsed. Three days after that on September 7 at Phansidewa area near Siliguri in north Bengal, a bridge gave in as a truck reached midway. The truck got stuck in the broken part of the bridge. After the Majerhat bridge collapse, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that 20 bridges in Kolkata and Howrah had passed their ‘expiry dates’. In March, 2016, an under-construction flyover at Vivekananda Road in north Kolkata collapsed killing 27 persons.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement