The bridge is being built at a cost of Rs 16 crore.
A portion of a Rs 16-crore under-construction bridge collapsed and was washed away in Chhattisgarh today. The area had witnessed continuous rain for four days and local residents, who had gone to the bridge to check the water level of the river below it, were standing very close to the structure when it collapsed.
Local authorities have, however, said that the structure that caved in consisted of only the "staging and shuttering" done by the contractor, and no concrete had been poured. They added that a show-cause notice will be issued to the contractor.
The bridge is being built at Sagni Ghat in Durg district to connect the Silli and Nankatti villages. The ghat is known as Triveni Sangam because it sees the confluence of three rivers - Shivnath, Aamner and Sagni.
Construction on the bridge, which is estimated to cost Rs 16.4 crore, had begun on November 11, 2020, and it was supposed to have been completed on April 11, 2022.
Videos show the structure beginning to buckle before crumbling into a heap and getting washed away by the river. Local residents can be seen standing near its edges as it collapsed.
Officials said it has been raining incessantly in Durg division for the past four days, because of which 24 thousand cusecs of water had been released into the Shivnath river from the Mogra reservoir. They said the structure could not take the pressure of the increased water flow and caved in.
D K Maheshwari, executive engineer of the bridges department, said the contractor, Amar Infrastructure, had been asked to dismantle the structure ahead of the monsoon season, but it failed to do so.
"These instructions are issued to all contractors ahead of the rainy season. Despite this, the contractor had not dismantled the structure at the Sagni Ghat bridge. Only the staging and shuttering have been washed away. No concrete had been poured," said Mr Maheshwari.
"The damage, of around Rs 12 lakh, will be borne by the contractor and a show-cause notice will also be issued," he added. Asked about the delay in the bridge's completion, he said it was because of issues related to land acquisition.
A portion of a bridge in neighbouring Bihar's Kishanganj district caved in on Saturday, barely three weeks after a portion of a massive Rs 1,700-crore under-construction bridge over the Ganga had collapsed in the state's Khagaria district.