Bihar bridge collapse: HC seeks ATR from govt, point-wise details from construction firm

PATNA: Taking a serious view of the collapse of the constructed part of the bridge over the river Ganga in Bhagalpur, the Patna High Court on Wednesday directed the SP Singhla Construction Private Limited, the firm awarded contract by the Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Limited, to submit its study report relating to construction work at the site on specific points, giving details of the causes that may have caused the collapse.

Hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a social worker Lalan Kumar, who sought blacklisting of the firm and probe by a sitting high court judge into the second collapse within 14 months, the bench of Justice Purnendu Singh said that it was shocked by the collapse of the constructed part of the bridge on June 4, as some portion of the bridge had collapse on April 13 last year.

The four-lane bridge is 23.16 km long connecting Bhagalpur with Khagaria, out of which 3.16 km stretch is being built over the river Ganga since May 2, 2015. The estimated cost of the project, which started in 2014 and was scheduled to be completed by 2019, is ₹1710-crore.

“As per media reports, the cause of collapse is that the pillars could not take the load of the super structure. It is also reported that the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, had pointed to design defect in its report. The court is concerned to safeguard the interest of the public at large, prevent misuse of public money and exploitation of natural resources, which has been caused due to laxity on part of the state government and the contractor,” the bench said, seeking clarification on 16 points from the firm.

The court has asked the company to provide details regarding the nature of stream flowing into the site, nature and behaviour of soil strata for foundation, construction problem existing, impact on environment due to collapse, detailed project report (DPR) relating to ground survey, including geologist certificate detailing geo-strata, the report relating to profile of The river bed, its rock type and the foundation found beneath the construction site, soil exploration foundation details etc.

The court has also sought hydrological data, model studies, purchase receipts with GST details of materials used in the construction, fee incurred on obtaining expert reports from different agencies before start of the work, and later from time to time and the company’s audited balance sheet and annual report submitted before the registrar of companies relating to the present project.

It has also asked the state government to submit its action taken report on the next date of hearing, which is June 21, and the managing director the firm, SP Singhla Construction Private Limited, to be present along with his expert team in the court that day.

The state government has already served a show-cause notice to the firm, asking why it should not be blacklisted. The company was to give its reply within 15 days, which ends on June 23. The firm has been awarded several contracts in the state.