BETTIAH, Sept. 21 -- A newly-constructed bridge over Dhanauti river near Majuraha in East Champaran's Motihari has reported to have developed a 20-feet long crack barely 20 days after being inaugurated by chief minister Samrat Choudhary, raising familiar questions about quality and safety of such structures in Bihar, officials and locals said. The Manjuraha-Hardia bridge, constructed at a cost of around Rs.13 crore, was opened to the public on September 1. A video of the crack appearing at the approaching road of the showed a long crack, measuring around 20-feet, and locals showing apprehensions to use the bridge. Conceding the damage, Krishna Kumar, executive engineer, Pul Nirman Nigam, said that a small portion of the approach road has sunk, causing a crack on it. "There is no damage reported in the bridge," he said, attributing the crack to monsoon-induced earth settlement. "It was a new earth work which settled further due to rain during this monsoon season. We are looking forward to undertake the repairing work at the earliest," said Kumar, referring to the damaged approach road near Majuraha-Hardiya bridge foundation, which was laid during former chief minister Nitish Kumar's "Pragati Yatra". The bridge, measuring 72-meter long and 7.5-meter wide, over the Dhanauti river has served to reduce the distance of district headquarters to the block headquarters of Kesariya, Kalyanpur, Kotwa, Turkauliya, Harsidhih and other areas. It has been labelled as a major connectivity link between various urban and rural centres and links around 10 blocks of the region. Angered over a fissure emerging in it so early after being operational, locals of the area have demanded technical inspection by the local authorities and fixing of the split as soon as possible....