At least three more bridges collapsed in Bihar on Wednesday. Giving information, officials said that this is the ninth incident of bridge collapse in the rain-affected state in the last 15 days. Officials said that there was no report of any casualty in the three structures that collapsed in Saran and Siwan districts. Local officials said that these bridges were built 30 to 80 years ago.
Tejashwi Yadav accused the government
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, however, alleged that four bridges collapsed in a single day and the Chief Minister and his Deputy Chief Minister were maintaining silence. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar directed the Road Construction Department (RCD) and Rural Works Department (RWD) to immediately survey all the old bridges in the state and identify those bridges which need immediate repair. Additional Chief Secretary of WRD Chaitanya Prasad said in a statement that some parts of the bridges/paths that collapsed in Siwan and Saran on Wednesday were very old. According to the statement, it seems that these structures were not constructed following the required parameters. It appears that the foundation was not deep enough, due to which these structures were damaged during the floods.
These incidents are happening due to the boom of Gandaki river
A part of the bridge built on the Gandaki river in Siwan district of Bihar collapsed on Wednesday morning. This small bridge located in Deoria block of the district connects several villages to Maharajganj. Deputy Development Commissioner Mukesh Kumar said that the real reasons for the collapse of the bridge are being investigated. He said that senior officials of the block have already reached the spot. He said that a part of the bridge collapsed this morning in Deoria block. The real reason for this incident has not been known yet. Senior officials of the block have reached the spot and I am also going there.
Kumar said that the incident took place around 5 am. According to initial information, the bridge was constructed in 1982-83. Repair work was going on for the last few days. Villagers say that the bridge may have collapsed due to heavy rains in the past few days. He said that the structure of the bridge may have weakened due to the rising waters of the Gandaki river.
Just 11 days before this incident, a bridge collapsed in Siwan. These incidents have raised concerns about the state of infrastructure in Bihar. A part of the bridge collapsed on June 22 in Daraunda area. Recently, similar incidents have occurred in districts like Madhubani, Araria, East Champaran and Kishanganj, after which the Bihar government has constituted a high-level committee to investigate these incidents.