In Bihar, there seems to be no let up in the bridge collapse, with the latest incident occurring in Mahishi village, Saharsa district. This marks the 13th collapse in a short span of three weeks, occurring days after the Nitish Government unveiled its long-awaited bridge maintenance policy, which was pending for the past decade.
Shockingly, this recent collapse adds to a total of 19 bridge failures in the past two years, with 13 of them occurring within the last three weeks alone across various districts including Siwan, Saran, Madhubani, Araria, East Champaran, and Kishanganj. Though fortunately, no injuries or fatalities have been reported at Wednesday collapse.
However, the incident has prompted reactions ranging from serious concern to dark humor on social media with some of them calling it a waste of taxpayer’s hard money.
On the action being taken in the matter, Additional Collector (Saharsa), Jyoti Kumar, said that officials are currently assessing the situation, even as he noted that the collapsed structure might have been a small bridge or causeway. Authorities have been mobilized to gather more information about the incident.
It was only last week, the Bihar government had woken up from its slumber to take decisive action by suspending 15 engineers following an investigation into these incidents. The probe, conducted by a panel for the Water Resources Department (WRD), prompted these measures aimed at addressing the recurring infrastructure failures in the state.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had last week instructed officials to conduct a survey of all old bridges in the state and identify those that require immediate repair. A total of 10 bridges collapsed in Siwan, Saran, Madhubani, Araria, East Champaran and Kishanganj districts in the past 20 days.
The report found that the engineers were “negligent” and monitoring was “ineffective”, which is the main reason behind the collapse of small bridges and causeways in the state, Additional Chief Secretary of WRD, Chaitanya Prasad, told reporters in the State. Those suspended include four executive engineers.
“The Rural Works Department has also initiated the process of blacklisting the contractor who was involved in the construction of the bridge in Araria district. The department has also stopped payment of the contractor/firm for its previous work till the completion of the probe,” said Dipak Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, RWD.
Besides, the department has sought explanation from officials concerned for the collapse of bridges in East Champaran on June 23 and in Madhubani on June 26.
After the rollout Monday, road construction department additional chief secretary Pratyaya Amrit told reporters: “With state having a big number of bridges, the bridge maintenance policy would guide engineers to maintain, construct and repair bridges”.
Meanwhile, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has questioned the BJP leaders' silence in the matter. He told reporters in the State: “Why are leaders of the NDA-led Bihar government, including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, maintaining a stoic silence… These incidents prove how corruption is rampant in the ruling dispensation."
“The portfolio of the RWD, which constructs most of the small bridges in the state, is always with JD(U) leaders. Who should be held responsible for this mess?” the former deputy CM said.
The spate of bridge collapses has sparked a range of reactions on social media platforms like X (earlier twitter), reflecting both frustration and concern among the public. DJ Venkatesh, tweeting under @djdiglipur, humorously suggested that the Bihar government should apply for a Guinness World Record due to the frequency of these incidents. On a more serious note, Amit Laskar, using the handle @darao_pathakbar, lamented the wastage of taxpayers' money due to these infrastructure failures.
Many others echoed calls for a thorough investigation into the collapses, emphasizing the need for accountability and action against those responsible, especially in cases where bridges were still under construction.
