Three days after a major bridge collapsed in Kolkata’s Majherhat area killing three persons and injuring 26 others, two of them critically — and throwing a major portion of about 10 lakh strong South-eastern Kolkata traffic out of gear perhaps for a few years — a second bridge, a small one caved in at Phanshidewa block in Siliguri in North Bengal, sources said.
The bridge covering a small river caved in from the middle taking down along with it a loaded truck injuring the driver who was rushed to the North Bengal Medical College Hospital, sources said. Reacting to the accident North Bengal Development Minister RN Ghosh said the bridge was built in the Left Front era way back in 1995 and badly required repair.
“Though the local MLA repeatedly urged the district board controlled by the CPI(M) things fell on deaf ears.”
CPI(M) leader Jibesh Sarkar however said the Trinamool Congress Government had been written to about the poor condition of the bridge but no help came from Kolkata.
“Like they have been doing to the opposition-run boards they did not allot funds to repair the bridge. We have been requesting them repeatedly to clear funds. As there was no fund and none came from Kolkata we failed to repair the bridge,” Sarkar said.
Bengal has of late become a “danger zone” in terms of weak bridges with about 20 such bridges in Capital Kolkata outliving their lives and requiring urgent repair. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has set up a Bridge Monitoring Cell to inspect the bridges and recommend their repair.