Under-construction bridge collapses in Bengal
File photo of a flyover collapse in Kolkata.
An under-construction bridge collapsed in Kakdwip area of West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district on Monday, a senior official said.
The 120-metre bridge on Kalnagini river in the Sunderban region was scheduled to be inaugurated in 2021.
There has been no report of any casualty, District Magistrate Y Ratnakara Rao said.
"The work to clear the debris has started. The area has been cordoned off to stop people from going near the bridge," Rao said, adding that engineers were trying to ascertain the reason behind the collapse.
This was the third incident of bridge collapse in the state in September.
A portion of a bridge at Majerhat in south Kolkata had caved in on September 4, killing three persons and injuring more than 24.
On September 7, an old bridge had collapsed near Siliguri in north Bengal, leaving a truck driver injured.
Reacting to Monday's incident, Sunderban Development Minister Manturam Pakhira said the company that was constructing the bridge was to be blamed for its collapse.
"Girders were attached one after another to build the bridge. The interim concrete slabs are usually supported with temporary iron pillars for a certain period. But the iron support was removed, without consulting the department's engineers," Pakhira told reporters.
A district BJP leader claimed that the bridge collapsed because poor quality materials were used for its construction.
State Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, during a press meet at the state secretariat, said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will review the condition of bridges and flyovers in the state, including the ones under construction.
"Once she is back from her tour, she will seek opinion of experts on ways to overcome weakness in the structural pattern of the bridges and evaluate the experience of contractors entrusted with the job of building them," he said.
Banerjee is on a 12-day trip to Germany and Italy to attract investments to the state.
Asked about the Kakdwip incident, Chatterjee told reporters that it was "not a functioning one", without getting into details.
He, however, asserted that the government was taking the issue seriously and the CM had been regularly seeking updates about every development in the state from Italy.