Dept was with RJD for 18 months: Bihar minister shifts blame on Tejashwi for bridge collapse

New Delhi, July 4 (IANS) Under fire for a series of bridge collapses in Bihar, the tenth such incident in over a fortnight, the Rural Works Department (RWD) Minister, Ashok Choudhary, on Thursday sought to shift the blame on the RJD and its leader Tejashwi Yadav.

He also informed media persons about action taken by the Nitish Kumar government to resolve the crisis arising out of the infrastructure mess in Bihar.

RWD minister Choudhary said that the Mukhyamantri Gram Setu Yojana, which was closed in 2016, is being considered for revival and said that clear instructions have been issued to all departments for maintenance of bridges in Bihar.

He explained that change in the river's course was one of the reasons for a few bridge collapse incidents.

He also informed that three engineers had been suspended so far and FIRs lodged against the contractors, depriving them of the immunity which they enjoyed till now, for the substandard work.

When questioned over RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav targeting Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the latter’s “stony silence”, he retorted that the department was with the RJD for 18 months and Tejashwi Yadav was heading this ministry at that time.

Tejashwi Yadav, who had served as Bihar Deputy CM in the Mahagathbandhan-led government, took to X on Thursday and slammed the NDA government in Bihar for its claims of good governance.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar are completely silent and speechless on these achievements. They are thinking about how to convert this corruption into Jungle Raj?” Tejashwi wrote, taking a jibe.

The Bihar government has formed a high-level committee to investigate the bridge collapses in the state.

Ashok Choudhary also informed that the committee led by Chief Engineer will investigate and study the reasons behind the recent bridge collapses and suggest remedial measures.

There have been close to a dozen bridge collapses in the state in over a fortnight, some of which took place in Araria, Madhubani, East Champaran and Kishanganj.