Chief minister Hemant Soren ordered a high-level probe into the cave-in of a bridge over Kanchi river on Ranchi outskirts on Friday, the day after cyclone Yaas battered the state, forcing evacuation of around 20,000 people., most of them belonging to the Kolhan region.

As the cyclone weakened and moved towards Bihar in the wee hours on Friday, local authorities got busy in the affected areas, undertaking various rehabilitation activities. Those evacuated from vulnerable zones falling along river banks in East and West Singhbhum began heading back to their homes with the help of local officials.

In Ranchi, the state disaster management department and the state agriculture department began assessing damage to property and crops to evaluate the compensation packages for the affected people.

As per latest reports, four persons — two in Ranchi and one each in Koderma and Bokaro _ died during the storm on Thursday.

Displaced residents leave a shelter home with ration packets in West Singhbum. The Telegraph picture

Hemant has taken strong objection to the bridge cave-in. “I have ordered for a high-level probe into the incident. The bridge was constructed using public money and my government will not tolerate any corrupt acts and shoddy work,” he tweeted after which state rural development minister Alamgir Alam announced the setting up of a three-member team to probe the incident and fix accountability.

Sources said the foundation stone of the bridge was laid in 2011 and was constructed at a cost of Rs 8 crore about three years back. However, it was awaiting formal inauguration even though vehicular movement was on. The bridge connects Tamar-Bundu with Sonahatu and also served as an alternative route to Bengal.

Local residents said illegal sand mining as the cause for the damage. “The bridge has 25 pillars and is about 500m long. At least 15,000-20,000 residents here were directly dependent on it for regular commute. However, rampant sand mining led to weakening of one of the pillars causing a cave-in. The government and district administration has remained silent over rampant sand theft all through these years,” rued Baleshar Tudu, a resident of Bundu.

Urban development and health minister Banna Gupta said that in the three key districts of Kolhan, which bore the brunt of the cyclone, there had been no reports of deaths or losses to livestock. "But we have asked all districts to assess damages in their regions and send reports so that the state government can decide on compensation,” he said on the sideline of a function to flag off mobile vaccination vans.

East Singhbhum, which witnessed the largest ever evacuation since the formation of Jharkhand in 2000, is cruising back to normalcy, deputy commissioner Suraj Kumar said. “Approximately, 12,037 people were evacuated across 460 villages in view of flooding dangers. They were kept at 316 relief camps across the district. About six lakh people were affected by the cyclone. More than 99 per cent of them have now returned,” he said.

As per preliminary assessments, Kumar said 15 thatched houses were fully damaged, 46 partially damaged and two cemented houses were partially damaged. “We have provided tarpaulin sheets, dry ration to all those who have gone back home. Covid safety norms were adhered to at shelter homes. All were made to undertake rapid antigen tests before being allowed to leave,” he said, adding that the administration's focus on ensuring casualties remained successful.

In West Singhbhum (Chaibasa), five bridges were identified as partially damaged. “We have stopped movement of vehilces on them for now,” said deputy commissioner Ananya Mittal. As many as 328 camps were set up of which only 89 were used. “The cyclone turned into a deep depression by the time it entered Jharkhand. Around 3,104 were evacuated from danger zones. They have started going back,” he said.

Both Kumar and Mittal said that intense clean-up measures had been launched in flooded areas of the districts.