Behind the Jilin Floating Bridge Case: The competent department was sued for inaction on the road | river | Jilin Floating Bridge

"Is it a convenient bridge or a wealth gathering bridge?" The case of villagers in Zhenlin Village, Wafang Town, Taonan City, Jilin Province, who built a floating bridge for charging fees and were found to have caused trouble continues to receive attention.

Huang Deyi, who organized the construction of the floating bridge, believes that the construction of the floating bridge has solved the problem of some local villagers detouring dozens of kilometers to cultivate land, and has received support from the villagers. The bridge toll collected by the villagers is also actively provided to the personnel who take care of the floating bridge, and there is no "forced payment".

But some netizens claiming to be from the village near the bridge claimed that Huang Deyi and others were "maliciously repairing the bridge", digging holes on the convenient roads that small cars could use, forcing vehicles to only walk on the bridge he repaired, and imposing bridge tolls.

The iron boats used to build floating bridges are now idle.

In the winding rivers and numerous lakes of Taonan City, Baicheng, Jilin Province, there have been multiple cases of being punished for unauthorized bridge construction, and some people have committed intentional injury by injuring passersby for charging bridge tolls. Some citizens have reported to the government that illegally built bridges were opened to traffic without any evaluation or approval, posing safety hazards, and profiting through illegal fees.

In addition to bridges, a few years ago, a village committee in Taonan, Baicheng spontaneously built a road to block rivers and water. As the river and flood control authority, the Taonan Water Resources Bureau was sued by the procuratorate for failing to take timely measures to demolish the road. The Water Resources Bureau argues that the purpose of constructing the river blocking road is to facilitate villagers to cross the river for farming and land collection, and to allow villagers to use it free of charge.

Finally, the court determined that the failure of the Water Resources Bureau to fulfill its responsibilities for river supervision and management in accordance with the law was illegal.

Multiple people were punished for building bridges without permission,

Some people injured passersby due to bridge tolls

On the official website of the Baicheng City Government, some local villagers have also reported the problem of privately building bridges in the area.

"The Tao'er River meanders through Baicheng City, Jilin Province, becoming the boundary river for the administrative divisions of Taonan City and Taobei District. Both sides are flood control areas planned by the state. As early as September 2015, netizens reported that an illegal and privately built floating bridge had been completed and opened to traffic. Sun Laopangzi, a villager from Zhongxin Village, Fushun Town, Taonan City, along with three people surnamed Yang and Jiang, claimed to have raised 300000 yuan. Without any evaluation and approval from any department, a steel floating bridge spanning 70 meters across the river was built on the Tao'er River, which can carry 30-50 tons of trucks. At the beginning of the operation, they accumulated wealth every day." Over 2000 yuan.

The villager claimed that during the preparation period of the bridge, insiders reported it to the Taonan Municipal Government, and the relevant departments of the city had sent people to stop it. Afterwards, there was no movement. On the other side of the boundary river, the Taobei District Government and relevant departments also remained silent.

The villager believes that this behavior is illegal, endangers public safety, constitutes illegal charging, and poses a threat to public safety. "In the current dry season, there is already a drop in the upstream and downstream of the bridge, and how much upstream farmland will be threatened during the flood season... In addition, the construction of the bridge has no technical content, and the welding of floating boxes and the connection between floating boxes are extremely non-standard. The technical indicators such as the load-bearing capacity and flood resistance flow rate are unknown. Once sinking, tilting, collapse, and fracture occur, who will be responsible for causing accidents involving people and vehicles?"

The relevant department replied to the message, stating that after on-site investigation and verification by law enforcement personnel from the Taonan Water Resources Bureau, the illegal construction of the bridge reported by netizens is indeed true, but the violator is only Sun. On September 14, 2015, the Water Resources Bureau of Taonan City issued a "Notice of Rectification within a Time Limit" to the parties involved, requiring them to demolish illegally built bridges within the statutory deadline. On September 23, 2015, the party involved dismantled the illegally built bridge on their own and paid a fine. The Taonan Municipal Water Resources Bureau has retained footage of the law enforcement process.

In addition, in July 2016, three individuals were fined RMB 50000 for building bridges on the river without authorization. According to three administrative rulings disclosed on the Judgment Document Network, the Taonan Court believes that the person being executed illegally constructed a bridge in the river, which not only poses safety hazards but also affects the flood discharge of the river, is a serious illegal act, and supports the decision of the Taonan Water Resources Bureau to impose administrative penalties.

In addition, the Criminal Judgment on Zhou's Intentional Injury Case, which was released on the Judgment Document Network in October 2016, revealed that someone in Taonan City had an argument with a passerby over collecting bridge tolls, and later injured the passerby, committing the crime of intentional injury.

The verdict shows that on September 8, 2015, at around 16:00, at the mouth of the boat in Banla Mountain Tun, Qingtai Village, Fushun Town, Taonan City, Jilin Province, Zhou, born in 1990, had an argument with the victim Wang over collecting bridge fees. Zhou injured Wang's head with an iron rake.

After appraisal, the degree of injury of the victim Wang constitutes a minor injury level one. After the incident, the relatives of the defendant Zhou compensated the victim Wang for various economic losses of RMB 4700. The People's Court of Taonan City ruled that the defendant Zhou committed the crime of intentional injury and was sentenced to six months and fifteen days of imprisonment.

The Water Resources Bureau is accused of not demolishing it in a timely manner

Violated the construction of obstructed waterways and was found to be illegal

In addition to building bridges, a village committee in Taonan once filed a lawsuit over the construction of "river blocking and water blocking roads".

According to the first instance administrative judgment on the failure of the Taonan People's Procuratorate and the Taonan Water Resources Bureau to fulfill their statutory duties, released on September 5, 2018 by the Judgment Document Network, on February 2, 2018, the plaintiff of the public interest lawsuit, the Taonan People's Procuratorate, discovered during the administrative law enforcement and procuratorial supervision work that a north-south blocking road was being built in the Jiaoliu River channel in the northern suburbs of Taofu Street, about three kilometers north of the Taonan urban area. After investigation, the construction of the road was not approved by relevant departments and was considered a violation of regulations.

The prosecutor's office stated that the road is approximately 59.5 meters long, 4.5 meters wide, and 2.3 meters high, with a solid roadbed and 10 concrete pipes buried side by side under the road. On both sides of the river are agricultural land and forest land. "If the peak of the flood season arrives and the water flow increases, the road is prone to blocking floods, affecting the river's ability to pass through. Floods can easily overflow the riverbank, submerging the surrounding farmland and forests on both sides, putting the ecological safety and residents' safety on both sides at risk, seriously infringing on social public interests."

On March 30, 2018, the People's Procuratorate of Taonan City issued a recommendation letter to the Water Resources Bureau of Taonan City, suggesting that the bureau "take effective measures to demolish illegal buildings, roads, clean up river garbage, eliminate river risks, and restore the illegally occupied river to its original state."; And within two months after receiving the prosecution's suggestion, the handling result shall be replied in writing to the procuratorate.

The People's Procuratorate of Taonan City filed a lawsuit stating that the Water Resources Bureau did not respond or take measures to demolish illegal construction roads after receiving the procuratorial proposal, resulting in a state of infringement on the national and social public interests.

The Water Resources Bureau of Taonan City argued that the water blocking road claimed in the indictment was built by the village committee of Beijiao Village, Taofu Street, Taonan City. The purpose of the construction was to facilitate villagers to cross the river and cultivate land, and to allow them to use it free of charge. According to the prosecutor's suggestion, the bureau has requested the construction unit to demolish it. Before the public interest litigant filed a lawsuit in this case, the demolition plan was formed and was yet to be implemented. However, due to busy work, the progress of the work was not timely feedback, resulting in the lawsuit being concluded.

The court held that the Water Resources Bureau of Taonan City, as the competent department for river protection and flood control, has statutory supervisory and management responsibilities for river protection and flood control work within its jurisdiction. The defendant conducted an investigation into the river blocking road involved in the case and issued a notice ordering the parties to rectify the situation. Before the prosecution, the defendant still failed to fulfill their supervisory and management responsibilities according to the prosecution's suggestions, resulting in a dangerous state of infringement on the national and social public interests, and their administrative inaction was illegal.

Finally, the court ruled that the failure of the Taonan Water Resources Bureau to fulfill its responsibilities for river supervision and management in accordance with the law was illegal.