Nabarangpur bridge collapse: FIR lodged against three

Nabarangpur: An FIR was today lodged at the Umerkote police station against three persons in connection with the collapse of a bridge near Talapadar village in Odisha’s Nabarangpur district that killed a labourer and left three others critically injured.

The FIR has been filed against contractor Ashish Biswal, Junior Engineer Asit Patra, and SDO Niranjan Sahu, informed Collector Ajit Mishra.

Meanwhile, Superintending Engineer Sunabeda,  Pradeep Jena visited the mishap site following a directive from Development Commissioner PK Jena.

Jena told mediapersons, “As per the preliminary probe, the mishap occurred due to the centering failure. Either iron pipes used for the centering were not able to take load or there was spacing between the pipes, the details will be known after a thorough examination. Also, samples of the materials have been sent to the laboratory for tests.”

The Development Commissioner also directed the Engineer-In-Chief (EIC) to enquire the mishap thoroughly and submitted a report.

A portion of the under-construction bridge over Nagi river had collapsed yesterday while centering work was underway. Four labourers working on the bridge fell down and a heap of concrete and iron rod buried them.

Other labourers, who were staying near the construction site, rescued the injured ones and rushed them to the Umerkote Hospital. One of the injured, Mahendra Mali (45) succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment at the hospital.

Work for the bridge, which is being constructed to connect Talapadar with Janiguda, was awarded to Bhubaneswar-based Contractor Ashish Biswal. The bridge is being built under the Biju Setu Yojana.