Uttarakhand Government handling reconstruction work casually: BJP

Dehradun, July 7: Opposition BJP in Uttarakhand today said the collapse of an under-construction bridge in Uttarkashi district exposes the "casual manner" in which reconstruction works are being carried out in flood-hit areas of the state.

The party also demanded that the company entrusted with the task of building the bridge be blacklisted.

"The sudden collapse of a bridge being built in Assi Ganga valley at a cost of Rs three crore in which a labourer was killed shows how casually government is taking the reconstruction work in affected areas. We demand an impartial inquiry into the mishap and blacklisting of the company which was constructing the bridge," Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Ajay Bhatt said in a statement here.

One labourer was killed and three were injured when an under-construction bridge collapsed in Sangamchatti area of Assiganga valley in Uttarkashi district on July 5. All the labourers were from West Bengal.

The 70-metre bridge was being built over Assiganga, a tributary of the Ganga, by the National Building and Construction Corporation (NBCC). A magisterial inquiry has already been ordered into the incident.

The BJP leader also demanded rejection of Chief Minister Harish Rawat's nomination papers from Dharchula, accusing him of hiding details of his and his spouse's movable and immovable assets.

Rawat is seeking entry into the state Assembly as an MLA from Dharchula where a bypoll is slated to be held on July 21.

PTI