New Delhi: In a devastating incident, nine individuals lost their lives due to lightning strikes in six districts of Bihar over the past 24 hours. The fatalities were reported from Jehanabad, Madhepura, East Champaran, Rohtas, Saran, and Supaul districts. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed his condolences and announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 4 lakh to each victims family. According to the Chief Ministers Office (CMO), Jehanabad experienced the highest toll with three deaths, followed by two in Madhepura, and one each in the remaining districts. The Chief Minister urged residents to adhere to advisories from the Disaster Management Department to stay safe during such weather events.Bihar Government Suspends Engineers Over Bridge CollapsesSwift Action Following Structural FailuresResponding to recent bridge collapses in the state, the Bihar government, under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, suspended 17 engineers on Friday. Chaitanya Prasad, Additional Chief Secretary in the Water Resources Department, and Deepak Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary in the Rural Works Department, announced the decision, highlighting the governments commitment to addressing the issue seriously.Details of the SuspensionsOf the 17 suspended engineers, 11 belong to the Water Resources Department. This includes executive engineers Amit Anand and Kumar Brijesh, assistant engineers Raj Kumar, Chandramohan Jha, Simran Anand, and Neha Rani, and junior engineers Mohammad Majeed, Ravi Kumar Rajneesh, Rafi-Ul-Hoda Ansari, Ratnesh Gautam, and Prabhat Ranjan. Additionally, six engineers from the Rural Works Department have been suspended, including executive engineers Anjani Kumar and Ashutosh Kumar Ranjan, and junior engineers Virendra Prasad and Manish Kumar, along with two others.Recent Bridge FailuresChaitanya Prasad provided details about the bridge collapses, noting that nine bridges had failed in various districts, six of which were very old, while three were still under construction. He mentioned the recent collapse of six culverts on the Chhadi and Gandaki Rivers in Siwan and Saran districts on July 3 and 4. Prasad emphasised that actions are being taken against the contractors involved, including initiating the blacklisting process to prevent them from securing future projects. Recovery of payments made to the contractors is underway, and all pending payments have been halted temporarily.
