Trinamool & Congress demand high-level probe in collapse of under-construction bridge on Farakka barrage

Trinamool Congress and Congress have demanded from the Centre a high-level probe into the collapse of an under construction bridge on the Farakka barrage that took place on Sunday in Malda’s Baishanbnagar in West Bengal.

A part of the girder came crashing down on some workers while work was on to place it between the pillars numbered one and two. Two persons died in the accident, including a project engineer. Five others were seriously injured and admitted to Malda Medical College & Hospital.
While the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) authorities – in charge of the construction, that was given to some agencies, – said that there were no technical shortcomings in the work, leaders of political parties demanded a thorough probe.
Murshidabad MP Abu Taher Khan from Trinamool Congress demanded a high-level probe into the matter and blamed the contractor company for insufficient safety measures. He also demanded that the families of those affected in the accident should be compensated besides taking strict actions against those responsible for the incident.
Other Trinamool leaders have alleged the contractor of accepting “cut money” and supplying inferior building materials for the project.
Congress MP Adhir Chowdhury said that he would meet Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari and demand compensation for the affected workers and the families of deceased and also ask for a high-level probe in the matter.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Dilip Ghosh said that the Centre should conduct a proper probe into the matter and compensate the affected. Ghosh, however, refuted allegations of the contractor accepting “cut money”. He took a dig at the Trinamool leaders and said, “Only those who accept cut money could come up with such a theory.”