Ravi Shankar Prasad demands audit of all under-construction bridges in Bihar

Blaming the lack of audits, Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday said, "This is the second time bridge has collapsed, this is a conspiracy, what was done when it collapsed the first time, what actions were taken against the company that constructed the bridge? Nitish Kumar is busy uniting Opposition, forgetting Bihar. If a bridge falls for a second time, then it is a reason to worry...I hope that all bridges under construction should be audited..."

On Sunday, an under-construction Aguwani-Sultanganj bridge in Bhagalpur collapsed and 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. (ANI)