The Aguwani-Sultanganj bridge over the Ganga River, which was still under construction, collapsed on June 4, 2023, not far from Sultanganj. Moreover, there have been no recorded injuries and casualties yet and the construction work was halted on Sunday.
The bridge was damaged for more than 100 metres as a result of the collapse of three pillars and the superstructure of girders connecting them.
After the bridge collapse took place, reports of it began making rounds on social media, prompting many to criticize the Central government.
A user on Twitter United India shared a visual of collapse along with the video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bhagalpur, in which the PM can be heard saying, “A few days ago, the work of four lane bridge parallel to Vikramshila bridge has also started. There will be enhanced access to neighbouring Bhagalpur cities after the construction is completed.” The user indirectly taking jibe at the PM asked who is to held accountable for this incident?
Besides, the national spokesperson of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Priyanka Kakkar also shared the same videos and wrote, “Is Prime Minister Modi talking about this bridge of Bhagalpur?”
Another Twitter user Alok Chikku, the social media incharge of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) wrote that the Aguwani Ghat bridge was constructed during the tenure of BJP ministers (2017-22). Does Narendra Modi intentionally get shoddy construction done in Bihar? Union minister eats half the commission of the budget.
In addition, the supporters of the Congress also took the lead in holding the BJP responsible for the collapse. The screenshot was shared by user Ayush Jain, a RaGa fan boy, of a media report that stated, “PM Modi lays foundation stone of 4-lane parallel bridge of Vikramshila Setu and Phulaut bridge in Bhagalpur.” Ayush wrote that bridge collapsed and bhakts are trying to blame Nitish and Tejaswi for this.
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Fact Check
We did the keyword search “Aguwani Bridge collapse” and came across many media reports. According to The Hindu reports, the Aguwani bridge over the Ganga river in the Bihar district of Bhagalpur is being constructed at a cost of Rs. 1,716 crore.
The Aguwani Ghat bridge in Khagaria was officially started on February 23, 2014, when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar placed the first stone. The current CM of Bihar in 2015 inaugurated the work of the bridge which began from 2016. 2019 was the anticipated completion date for the construction, however only 25% work was completed by then.
The bridge’s completion deadline, which was set in 2014, has fallen eight times short. Later, the completion deadline was extended from 2020 to 2022.
Moreover, on April 30, 2022, the bridge collapsed as a consequence of strong winds and rain, two years after it was anticipated that work would be finished. However, no action was taken against the company by the Nitish Kumar’s government and more time was granted for the completion work.
Apart from The Hindu, according to a different source from TOI, Nitish Kumar laid the Aguwani bridge’s cornerstone in 2014. The work began in 2016 and was scheduled to be finished in 2019; however, the completion date was later pushed to 2020 and then to 2022.
JDU alliance with BJP
According to the information available on the Wikipedia, just one week after former Gujarat CM Narendra Modi was appointed to lead the BJP’s campaign committee for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Nitish severed his links with the BJP-led NDA earlier in June 2013 ending its 17 years alliance with NDA.
The alliance between the NDA and JDU was broken before Nitish Kumar lay the cornerstone for the Aguwani bridge in 2014. A year after the bridge’s construction began, the NDA-JDU alliance once more took place in 2017. So, from the bridge’s foundation to the start of its construction, BJP had no role to play in it. However, the alliance again broke in 2022.
PM Modi did not lay foundation for the Aguwani bridge
The user Ayush Jain tweeted a screenshot of a media report (Live Hindustan) in which it is mentioned that PM Modi laid foundation of the two bridge projects in Bhagalpur. The user claim that the it was the same bridge which collapsed on Sunday.
The Live Hindustan report mentions two bridges: one that spans the Kosi River in Phulaut between Veerpur and Bihpur and one that runs parallel to the Vikramshila Bridge on the Ganga River. On September 21, 2020, via video conference, Narendra Modi laid the cornerstones for these two projects.
The construction of the Vikramshila bridge was anticipated to begin following the end of the monsoon, according to a Times of India report from 2022. OpIndia notes that the construction of the Vikramshila bridge is yet to start.
Besides, as per the Prabhat Khabar, the construction work of the bridge over Kosi river started in 2021. The time limit for constructing this bridge is 36 months.
Lastly, the videos tweeted by the United Indian, Priyanka Kakkar and Alok Chikku when PM Modi visited Bihar two years ago. In the original video, around 3 minute he mentions the Vikramshila bridge’s foundation and construction, which is a project of the Central government. The PM was not talking about the Aguwani bridge.
Hence, considering the above mentioned points, the claims made by United India, Priyanka Kakkar, Alok Chikku and Ayush Jain are misleading. The NDA and JDU were not in alliance when the foundation for the Aguwani bridge happened. And it’s not the same bridge which PM Modi had mentioned in the video tweeted. The two bridge projects that the PM launched in 2020 are safe and the progress is on the way.
| Claim | The Aguwani bridge project’s foundation was laid down by the PM |
| Claimed by | United India, Priyanka Kakkar, Alok Chikku and Ayush Jain |
| Fact Check | Misleading |
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