Bihar Real estate brokers illegally build bridge on river to increase prices of adjoining lands

Purnea (Bihar), Mar 28 (PTI) A small bridge has been illegally constructed on a river in Bihar's Purnea district allegedly by real estate brokers in a bid to increase the prices of adjoining tracts in which they had stakes, officials said on Friday.
    Authorities have ordered the demolition of the 60 feet-long and 10 feet-wide bridge on Kari Koshi River.
    Speaking to PTI, Purnea Municipal Commissioner Kumar Mangalam said, "A 60 feet by 10 feet bridge has been constructed on Kari Koshi River in ward number 4 in Rahmat Nagar area of Purnea town by private persons without the consent of the civic body.
    "The area is under the jurisdiction of the Purnea Municipal Corporation (PMC). We have sought a clarification from the Water Resources Department as well," he added.
    The bridge has been constructed without the knowledge of the PMC, the commissioner said, adding that a team of officials visited the place on Thursday to take appropriate action.
    "But people with vested interests provoked locals who objected and prevented the PMC officials from taking further action. We will certainly take action as per the existing law," he added.
    The official, however, did not rule out the possibility of the involvement of the land mafia and brokers behind the construction of the small bridge.
    Locals are not revealing the identity of those who are behind the construction of this bridge, the municipal commissioner added.
    Before this incident, a bridge without approach roads was constructed by the authorities on Burhi Gandak River in Muzaffarpur district.
    Photographs of the bridge had gone viral on social media and it had hit the headlines.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)