Fact Check: News on newly inaugurated Sattarghat bridge in Bihar collapsed is FALSE

Hyderabad: Rains and floods have affected many states like Assam, Bihar, Delhi, UP in India in the past few days. While flood situation was reported to be critical in Assam, as Brahmaputra river was overflowing, floods in Bihar affected more than 3 lakh people in the state.

In such a situation, news that Sattarghat bridge in Bihar has collapsed within a month after it was inaugurated, has gone viral. A portion of Sattarghat bridge, which was reportedly built in 8 years at a cost of Rs 264 crore, has collapsed after the water flow increased in the river due to heavy rainfall. #Bihar

This news has been shared by many media outlets, including Telugu media like v6Velugu, 66TV.

Archived claims are here and here.

Fact Check:

As claimed in the viral messages, it was NOT the new bridge that collapsed but an old approach road 2 km away that has been damaged due to the floods.

On the official Twitter account of the Information and Public Relations Department, Govt. of Bihar. @IPRD Bihar, the information officer of the Bihar government issued a clarification, stating that the approach way to a small and old 18 mt-long bridge has been washed away due to heavy flow. The approach way is about 2 km away from the Sattarghat bridge. It was also added that the 1.4 km-long main bridge is completely safe.

A video published by their YouTube channel was also tweeted with the title Sattarghat bridge on July 16, 2020, showing the bridge intact.

The same video has been shared by Minister Road Construction Department- Government of Bihar., ex-president- BJP Bihar and ex-leader of opposition- Bihar Vidhan Sabha, Nand Kishore Yadav.

According to reports published in The Hindu and Hindustan Times, "The Sattarghat bridge has not been damaged, as nearly 2 km away from it, an 18-mt long approach road and a minor bridge got breached due to surging water in river Gandak…this has happened because of unprecedented pressure of water in the river…however, the structure of the minor bridge has not been affected. The main Sattarghat bridge is totally intact," said the government's release, while adding, "There is no issue of any misappropriation in this project…This is a natural disaster".

This claim has also been debunked by Altnews and Opindia too.

Therefore, the claim that the recently inaugurated Sattarghat bridge has collapsed is FALSE.