'Not Sattarthat bridge, only approach road of a minor bridge damaged in Gopalganj': Bihar govt

PATNA: The Bihar government on Thursday refuted media reports that the Sattarghat Mahasetu in Gopalganj district, which was made operational on June 15 to reduce the distance of Gopalganj district from East Champaran and Chhapra in Saran district, was washed away and said that only a portion of an approach road of a minor bridge was damaged.
A press communique issued by the road construction department said, "The Sattarghat bridge has not been damaged, as nearly two km away from it, an approach road of an 8-m long minor bridge was cut due to surging swollen waters in river Gandak.This has happened because of unprecedented pressure of water in the river."
The authorities of the department also claimed that the structure of the minor bridge was not affected. "The main Sattarghat bridge is totally intact. There is no issue of misappropriation in this project and this is a natural disaster," the government press release said, adding that the damaged portion would be repaired after the situation improved.
Road construction department minister Nand Kishore Yadav, who became a cynosure of criticism from the opposition party leaders, including RJD’s Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, said, "The RJD leader has no moral right to say anything on the issue of corruption. The Sattargahat bridge is intact and only an approach road of a minor bridge is damaged."
The authorities also released a video to show that the 1,440-m-long Sattarghat bridge was intact and no damage was caused to it as reported in a section of media on Wednesday. Sources said that more than three lakh cusec of water was released in the river Gandak suddenly, which increased pressure on the bridge washing away a portion of the approach road of another minor bridge.
However, the locals said that the link between Gopalganj to East Chamaran and Muzaffarpur district has been snapped after the damage to the approach road of the minor bridge ahead of the Sattarghat Mahasetu. "It will take time to repair the damaged portion of the approach road of the minor bridge. The repair work doesn’t take place during Monsoon," Munna Singh, a resident of Bhore in Gopalganj district, said.
The bridge was inaugurated by the chief minister Nitish Kumar on June 15 through video conferencing amid Covid19 pandemic. The bridge had reduced the distance between Gopalganj and Motihari (East Champaran) and Chhapra (Saran) by 45 km. It was built at an estimated cost of Rs.264crore.
Authoritative sources said that the foundation stone of the bridge was laid by Nitish Kumar on April 5, 2012. It took almost eight years to complete the construction work of the bridge connecting the Ramayana Circuit.