PATNA: A 15-year-old bridge across Gandaki river in Baniapur block of Saran district collapsed on Thursday, making it the 10th bridge to collapse in north Bihar in the last fortnight. The first to crumble was in Sikti block of Araria district, bordering Nepal, on June 18.
RWD minister Ashok Chaudhary suspended three engineers in the earlier Araria bridge collapse, and an order has also been issued for filing of an FIR against the contractor concerned as bridge collapse prima facie was found to be result of compromises at various levels of construction.
Saran saw a second bridge give way in the last 24 hours. “A bridge built in the colonial period had collapsed on Wednesday, and the second one, built 15-years-ago by the district administration, suffered the same fate on Thursday,” Saran DM Aman Samir said.
While Samir said no one died or was injured in both bridge collapses or the previous eight bridge collapses, structural engineers and experts said the series of incidents exposes deep-rooted corruption in construction of bridges in Bihar.
Former road construction department chief engineer J K Dutt said, “Basic causes are tinkering with bridge design, use of sub-standard material, like low-value cement, unspecified sand, concrete, & steel rods thinner than the approved diameter and thickness.”
A survey of all old bridges was ordered so that they can be reconstructed, and those two to three years old can be repaired.
