As Bridges Fall Like Nine Pins In Bihar, A Plea In Supreme Court Seeks Urgent Intervention

New Delhi: The horror stories from Bihar keep mounting.

Yet another bridge fell on Thursday, taking the total count of such collapses in Bihar to 10 in the last fortnight.

This one, the fourth bridge to disintegrate in Saran district this week, was over Gandaki river which connected Saraiya and Satua panchayats.

Even as chief minister Nitish Kumar has sought an inspection report of all under-construction and old bridges in the state within two weeks, a petition has also been filed in Supreme Court seeking directions to the Bihar government to conduct a structural audit of all existing and under-construction bridges.

Heavy showers have contributed to the string of mishaps, but this is the not the first time monsoon has hit Bihar.

Advocate Brajesh Singh, the petitioner, has also sought directions to the government to demolish or retrofit weak structures.

The petition stated that proper guidelines and a policy should be framed to ensure real-time monitoring of government construction, including bridges.

Describing the bridge collapses as “man-made disasters”, the petition mentions that back-to-back incidents in Bihar clearly indicate that no lessons have been learnt.

“It is a matter of grave concern that in a state like Bihar, which is the most flood-prone state in India, the total flood-affected area in the state is 68,800 sq km, which is 73.06 per cent of the total geographical area. Hence, such routine accrual of the incident of falling bridges in Bihar is more disastrous as the lives of people at large are at stake,” the petitioner pointed out.