Patna: Cracks have developed on the JP Ganga Path Bridge in Patna just 48 hours after it was inaugurated by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
A video showing cracks on the bridge, built by the Construction Department for Rs 3,831 crore went viral after which minister Nitin Naveen ordered an inquiry. The cracks have developed near the bridge's pier (pillar) number A-3 near Didarganj. The cracks are visible on both lanes of the bridge.
Naveen said he has asked officials to conduct a probe. However, he denied that the bridge has developed cracks stating it occurs because of joints between pillars. The minister said he is in Darbhanga and will inspect the bridge on Tuesday. "I have also received information about this, I have ordered the department's officials to investigate. Currently I am in Darbhanga with Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary to attend a meeting of the NDA. After returning to Patna, I will inspect it (the bridge) myself,: he said.
Meanwhile, Opposition RJD's Rohini Acharya took to social media platform X and wrote, "There are cracks in the structures, there is abundance of 'rats' thriving on corruption, because Bihar has a government of those who nurture 'corrupt rats'. The reign of Nitish Kumar and BJP is known for the structures being gnawed, destroyed and cracked by the power-protected 'big rats'. This is not the first incident. Dozens of such incidents have happened in the past and instead of taking action against the 'corrupt rats', catching them, Nitish Kumar's 'thug good governance' fills its stomach under the cover of 'rats' by increasing the corruption diet of the 'rats'."
The length of JP Ganga Path bridge from Digha to Didarganj is 20.5 km. The Road Construction Department had constructed it in a phased manner from Digha to Didarganj on the southern bank of the Ganga river in Patna city at a cost of Rs 3,831 crore. Its foundation stone was laid on October 11, 2013 on the birth anniversary of Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan.
