In a period of ten days, Bihar reported a collapse of five bridges in Araria, Siwan, East Champaran, Kishanganj and Madhubani districts. Nitish Kumar’s government has sought detailed reports from various departments before taking any actions.
As per government sources, the state government will ask departments such as road construction and rural development to issue notices to agencies that were involved in the construction of the bridges.
Indian Express reported a senior official at the Chief Minister’s Office take on the collapse, “We are waiting for their reports before taking the next course of action.”
The recent warning from the Bihar Engineering Services Association (BESA), an independent network of individuals involved in Bihar’s engineering services, highlights the need for government intervention to prevent further incidents.
This warning comes two days after a 77-meter girder from an under-construction bridge over the Kosi River in Madhubani collapsed. Since April 2022, Bihar has experienced 13 bridge collapses, including a section of the Rs 1,700 crore Aguwani-Sultanganj bridge in Bhagalpur last June.
Former CM and head of Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) Jitan Ram Manjhi suspected of a conspiracy behind the poor construction of the bridges saying, “It is a matter of concern that bridges are collapsing (in Bihar). It looks as if poor-quality material might have been used. But why were the bridges not collapsing 15 days or a month ago? Why are they collapsing now?”
The increasing number of bridge collapses in Bihar has raised serious concerns, prompting opposition parties like the RJD to demand accountability. RJD leader and former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav expressed his frustration on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday.
He stated, “Under Bihar’s double-engine government, five bridges have collapsed in just nine days. Some may still refer to such huge losses of crores of rupees as ‘shishtachar’ (ethics) rather than ‘bhrashtachar’ (corruption). Those responsible for the bridge collapses should resign.”