Why are bridges in Bihar collapsing? – Firstpost

Bihar’s reputation has taken a hit after two successive bridge collapses made headlines in recent days.

The record collapse of 12 bridges in 17 days, which occurred less than a month into the monsoon season, has drawn attention to the quality of construction and materials used.

However, experts suggest that the cause may be something else.

A state Department of Water Resources official has highlighted potential lapses by engineers and contractors involved in recent desilting work.

Here’s what we know about it.

The bridge collapsed

The bridge over the Gandaki river that connected Saraiya and Satua panchayats collapsed on Thursday, blocking connectivity in over 50 villages, according to Times of India.

It was the twelfth such incident in 17 days.

According to News18This is the second such collapse of Saran this week; earlier on Wednesday, a 150-year-old bridge partially collapsed. One of them occurred near Lahladpur and the other near Janta Bazar.

In the last two weeks, bridges have collapsed in Siwan, Saran, Madhubani, Araria, East Champaran and Kishanganj districts.

The first one took place on June 18 in Sikti block in Araria district bordering Nepal.

According to TOIThree under-construction bridges in north Bihar collapsed; the bridge in Araria district over the Bakra river costing Rs 12 million, the bridge in Madhubani district over the Bhutahi Balan river costing Rs 3 million and the bridge in East Champaran district costing Rs 1.5 million.

The Road Construction Department (RCD) builds high-value bridges and maintains Major District Roads (MDR), State Highways (SH) and National Highways (NH). The Rural Works Department (RWD) is responsible for the construction of roads and bridges under the Pradhan Mantri Gramme Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), which connects villages to block headquarters.

Any bridge that has collapsed is subject to the provisions of the RWD.

The state government, as well as retired engineers associated with the Bihar Engineering Services Association (BESA) and other organisations, are concerned about the frequency of bridge collapses, though most of them are old, except three that were under construction.

Possible causes

Former road construction department engineer JK Dutt said Times of India“The root causes are tampering with the bridge design, use of substandard materials such as low-grade cement, unspecified sand, concrete and steel bars thinner than the approved diameter and thickness. All these lead to the construction or erection of weak and feeble structures.”

“The contractor involved in the construction of the bridge is motivated by profit. He is violating quality standards, but this cannot happen without the collusion of local government engineers with the contractor,” a leading contractor told the newspaper, speaking on condition of anonymity.

But according to News18 Chaitanya Prasad, additional chief secretary of the state Water Resources Department, citing media reports, accused the contractors of carelessness and the engineers of lack of due caution.

Speaking to media, Prasad said, “Six bridges collapsed on the Gandak river in Siwan and Saran on July 3 and 4. It seems that the engineers did not exercise due diligence and the contractors were also not diligent. The engineers concerned appear to be prima facie guilty. Special flying squads have been sent to the spot and the deadline for submitting the report is Friday. Most of these bridges were three decades old and had shallow foundations. These foundations were eroded during desilting.”

During the desilting of rivers, the official said NDTV Silt and mud were also removed from the area around the pillars supporting the bridges, leaving them without any support.

When a river was dredged – the process of removing soil, rocks and other material from the riverbed – to improve water flow, the impact on the embankments was ignored.

According to the official, most of the bridges were exposed to seawater flowing beneath them only during the monsoon and heavy rainfall in Bihar at that time. In some cases, pillars buckled due to insufficient support.

In other cases, dredging has caused rivers to flow more rapidly, damaging embankments and leaving bridge tops without support.

Since it was initially found that the cause of the bridge collapse was compromised at various stages of construction, Rural Development Minister Ashok Chaudhary suspended three engineers involved in the earlier Araria Bridge collapse. An order was also issued to file a formal complaint against the said contractor, according to TOI report.

Residents believe that recent heavy rainfall in the area may have contributed to the collapse of these small bridges.

Adocvate Brajesh Singh on Thursday filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court seeking an order directing the Bihar government to conduct a thorough structural audit of all bridges in the state, including those under construction, as per the Telegraph on the web.

The opposition’s quip

The bridge collapse has sparked a political storm, with the Opposition and the current Nitish Kumar government at odds over who should bear the responsibility.

Housing Minister Ashok Kumar Choudhary blamed then deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav for failing to establish a good bridge maintenance policy when he was the state’s road and construction minister, to which the latter replied that it was a case of “pointing the finger at the cauldron”.

“The Mahagathbandhan was Nitish Kumar’s partner for only three of the last 20 years, the rest were covered by a confidentiality agreement,” the opposition leader said, demanding a thorough probe into the incidents.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav wrote in a post on X on Thursday: “Twelve bridges have collapsed in Bihar since June 18… Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar have been silent on these incidents in Bihar. What happened to the claims of good governance and corruption-free government? These incidents show how corruption is rampant in every department of the state government.”

Dr Nikhil Anand, BJP leader who currently serves as the party’s national general secretary, “I am afraid to cross any flyover or bridge in Bihar. I am surprised that half a dozen bridges have collapsed in the last 10 days. A serious investigation and audit is needed. The responsibility should be attributed to the construction company, blacklisted. The engineers should be booked.”

Remedies

The said incidents prompted the Bihar government to take remedial action.

As quoted India todayPrasad said, “New bridges will be constructed and the cost will be imposed on contractors found guilty.”

He added that all bridges that have been in use for more than 30 years will be checked for weak points and any necessary repairs will be carried out.

Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary told reporters on Thursday, “The CM, after a review meeting on Wednesday, issued clear instructions to officials to conduct a survey of all old bridges in the state and identify those which require immediate repair. The CM also asked the departments concerned to immediately prepare a suitable maintenance policy for bridges or causeways in the state.”

Chaudhary, who is also the state BJP president, further said the government has already ordered an inquiry into the bridge collapse to ascertain the cause and those found responsible will be punished severely.

With information from the agency