Part of under-construction bridge over Ganga collapses in UP's Bulandshahr

Three slabs of an under-construction bridge over the Ganga river in Gajraula village of this Uttar Pradesh district have collapsed, officials said on Saturday.

However, no casualty was reported, a senior official said.

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav pulled up the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the incident, accusing it of playing with people's lives by compromising with the quality of projects.

A committee led by the chief development officer (CDO) has been formed to investigate the matter, District Magistrate (DM) Chandra Prakash Singh said.

According to the DM, the bridge is being built over the Ganga to connect Bulandshahr with Amroha. Three slabs that were laid on Friday night got damaged and collapsed, he said.

No loss of life was reported in the incident, the DM said, adding that the work got over around 11 pm on Friday after which the weather turned bad and the slabs got damaged. There was no one around the bridge at the time of the incident, he said.

The committee led by the CDO will investigate the matter and strict action will be taken against anyone found guilty, Singh said.

He said the bridge is being built on the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) mode and its quality is checked from time to time.

"The committee will submit its report and we will take action accordingly. No damage has been caused to the pillars of the bridge," the DM added.

In a post in Hindi on X, Yadav said: "People are asking how much of the 'election donations' received by the BJP in return for the contract was given by the contractor building the bridge on the Ganga in Bulandshahr that collapsed during its construction."

"By playing with the quality of projects, the BJP is playing with the lives of people," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister added.