Traffic links snapped following bridge collapse in Bihar

Muzaffarpur, Jul 20 (UNI) The traffic flow between Muzaffarpur and Patna came to a grinding halt following the collapse of the Gourianha road bridge on National Highway 77 near Goraul here.

Official sources said here today that vehicular traffic had been diverted via Lalganj to Fakuli and Muzaffarpur after the bridge collapsed yesterday.

However, unrestricted movement of heavy vehicles had almost blocked the Fakuli-Lalganj Road, as it was single-laned.

Meanwhile, the passengers, stranded on the road, demanded immediate action to streamline the traffic situation.

''The worst hit among them were the ambulances carrying critical patients to the state capital,'' the sources admitted.

''Though the bridge showed signs of damage in its middle part about 10 days ago, not a single minister or government official noticed it,'' Bihar Motor Transport Federation president Uday Shankar Prasad Singh said.

The 130-year-old Gorurinha bridge was built in 1878 by the Queen of Sursand estate in Sitamarhi.

''More than four months are needed to construct a new bridge,'' the local administration estimated.

UNI XC JB RS SB SBC KN1558