Another bridge collapses in Bihar, 10th in 15 days; PIL filed in Supreme Court

A bridge collapsed in Bihar on Thursday, July 4, marking the 10th such incident in the state in just over a fortnight.

“The latest incident was reported from Saran, which witnessed two more bridge collapses in the last 24 hours,” District Magistrate Aman Samir told newswire PTI

He said no casualty was reported after the structure, built 15 years ago, collapsed this morning.

Also Read: Bihar bridge collapse: Second bridge caved in in one week, probe ordered

Hindustan Times reported that a PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Bihar government to undertake a structural audit and set up an expert committee to identify bridges that can be strengthened or demolished based on the findings.

The PIL, filed by advocate and petitioner Brajesh Singh, raised concerns about the safety and longevity of the bridges in the state that witnesses floods and heavy rains during monsoon

The small bridge over the Gandaki River was located in the Baneyapur block and connected several villages in the Saran district with the neighbouring Siwan district.

“The small bridge was constructed 15 years ago. I am going to the spot. Several other officials of the district administration have already reached there. The exact cause of the bridge collapse is yet to be ascertained, but desilting work was recently undertaken," the district magistrate told PTI.

On Wednesday, the Saran district witnessed the collapse of two small bridges—one in the Janta Bazar area and another in the Lahladpur area.

“A high-level probe has been ordered to find out the reason for the collapse of these small bridges in the district," the DM said.

Also Read: After Bihar, portion of under-construction bridge collapses in Jharkhand’s Giridih | Watch

Local reports suggest that heavy rainfall over the past few days in the district likely contributed to the collapse of these small bridges.

In the last 16 days, 10 bridges have collapsed in Siwan, Saran, Madhubani, Araria, East Champaran, and Kishanganj districts. The most recent incident occurred just a day after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar instructed the road construction and rural works departments to assess all old bridges in the state and identify those needing urgent repairs.

Also Read: Bihar’s yet-to-be-opened Araria bridge crumbles; Nitin Gadkari puts blame on Nitish Kumar’s govt

On Wednesday, the Chief Minister chaired a meeting to evaluate maintenance strategies. He noted that the road construction department has already formulated a bridge maintenance policy and urged the rural works department to promptly outline its bridge maintenance plan.

(With inputs from PTI)