A team from the Parliamentary Finance Committee on Saturday inspected a collapsed bridge over Babai River at Jabdighat. 

The team led by committee Chairman Prakash Jwala inspected the bridge that had collapsed on August 12. “There should be a thorough investigation into the design, contract and other aspects of the bridge and the guilty should be punished,” said Jwala.

Constructed six years ago by Pappu Construction at the cost of Rs 166.8 million, the bridge collapsed even before it was handed over to the Department of Roads (DoR). 

The government had formed a five-member probe committee to investigate into the bridge collapse. The probe committee had submitted a report to the DoR a week ago. The committee found several technical flaws during the construction of the bridge, including supporting pillars of the structure.  

The vehicular movement in the Rammapur road section along the Eastwest Highway has come to a halt after the bridge collapse. Chief District Officer Ganja Bahadur MC said the bridge had collapsed due to the use of substandard construction materials.