Earlier today, media reports claimed that a portion of the Sattarghat Bridge on Gandak River in Bihar’s Gopalganj collapsed on Wednesday as heavy rains in the region led to increase water flow. The reports, shared by ABP News, claimed that the bridge, which was constructed at a cost of Rs 263 crore was inaugurated by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar 29 days ago.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Bihar Congress and the usual suspects on social media started lashing out at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar after the so-called collapse of the bridge.
Taking a dig at the Bihar CM, Tejashwi Yadav in a sarcastic Tweet wrote that though a hefty amount of Rs 263.47 crore was spent over a span of 8 years to build the bridge which CM Nitish Ji inaugurated 29 days earlier, people should not dare to call this Nitish Ji’s corruption. Even their rats consume alcohol worth this amount, Tejashwi Yadav wrote in Hindi: “8 वर्ष में 263.47 करोड़ की लागत से निर्मित गोपालगंज के सत्तर घाट पुल का 16 जून को नीतीश जी ने उद्घाटन किया था आज 29 दिन बाद यह पुल ध्वस्त हो गया। ख़बरदार! अगर किसी ने इसे नीतीश जी का भ्रष्टाचार कहा तो?263 करोड़ तो सुशासनी मुँह दिखाई है।इतने की तो इनके चूहे शराब पी जाते है”
In another tweet, Tejashwi Yadav called Nitish the Bhishma Pitamah of organized corruption adding that he won’t utter a word on the bridge collapse.
Bihar Congress chief Madan Mohan Jha was also steadfast in slamming the Nitish Kumar government. He tweeted: “The inauguration of the bridge constructed at cost of Rs 263.47 crore was on June 16 and its destruction by July 15. Now, don’t blame the poor rats for this.”
The barbs were not limited to the opposition parties. Many usual suspects on Social media also took a dig at the Bihar government slamming it for the bridge collapse. One of them was the self-proclaimed ‘fact-checking’ portal Alt News’ co-founder.
Serial fake news peddler @zoo_bear has yet again spread a fake news and rumours to target poltical parties.
— Amit Kumar Sindhi 🇮🇳 (@AMIT_GUJJU) July 16, 2020
Requesting Bihar CM @nitishkumar to take strong action on such IT Cell Fake News peddlers #ArrestZubair pic.twitter.com/uneZZ0Dehg
It was not the new bridge, but an old approach road 2 km away that has been damaged
The public relations department of the Bihar government soon issued a clarification, calling out the misleading claims on social media and stated that the approach way to a small and old 18 meters-long bridge has been washed away due to heavy flow. The approach way is about 2 km away from the Sattar Ghat bridge. They also added that the 1.4 km long main bridge is completely safe.
Speaking on the incident, which was drawn severe criticism from the RJD-led opposition, Bihar’s road construction Minister, Nand Kishore Yadav also said: “The main bridge is safe. Only the approach bridge is damaged due to the heavy flow of water. It’s 2 km away from the Sattar Ghat bridge. As we know these days there is heavy water flow in Gopalganj, hence this has happened.”
नेता प्रतिपक्ष #सत्तर_घाट_पुल के क्षतिग्रस्त होने की झूठी खबर फैला रहे हैं।
— Nand Kishore Yadav (@nkishoreyadav) July 16, 2020
इस मामले में सही तथ्य निम्नवत है।
सत्तर घाट मुख्य पुल से लगभग दो किमी दूर गोपालगंज की ओर एक 18 मी लम्बाई के छोटे पुल का पहुँच पथ कट गया है। यह छोटा पुल गंडक नदी के बांध के अन्दर अवस्थित है। @ANI pic.twitter.com/GwUe5RS6iK
Meanwhile, BJP MLA Mithilesh Tiwari, hitting back at the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, said that Tejashwi Yadav is a liar and urged him to go and inspect the Sattar Ghat bridge himself. The BJP MLA from Baikunthpur in Gopalganj furthered that Tejashwi Yadav should not do cheap politics by propagating such lies.
