12 Bridges Collapse In Two Weeks In Bihar; Problem Of Desilting Or Poor Construction?

Bihar witnessed the tenth incident of bridges collapsing in the last two weeks in the state on July 4 when another bridge collapsed in the Saran district of Bihar. Officials had reported that two other bridges had also previously collapsed in the Saran district itself in the last forty-eight hours. The third bridge that collapsed in the area was built about fifteen years ago over the Gandaki river, which connected several villages in Saran with Siwan district. While no casualties were reported from the three collapses that took place in the region, these incidents pose a serious concern over the poor infrastructure in the state, especially, of the structures that were built years ago and most probably by the local residents who were inhabiting the area then.

With bridges collapsing like dominoes in the state, the locals and the officials have attributed the series of incidents to the heavy rain the state jas been witnessing in this year’s monsoon season. According to the officials, as soon as monsoons arrived in Bihar, bridges started collapsing. the first incident if the collapsing of bridges in Bihar was noted when a bridge that was built in 1998 collapsed in Deoria, Patera village, within Maharajganj subdivision. The bridge had reportedly, not seen any repair since it was first built about forty years ago and had succumbed to the heavy downpour. Subsequently, another bridge that was constructed in 2004 and connected the Nautan and Sikandarpur areas in Tewta panchayat also collapsed. This was followed by a recently repaired bridge in Dhamai village that collapsed into the Gandak river due to the strong water flow and then a part of a 150-year-old bridge in Saran’s Damdaspurpur also collapsed.

The state has witnessed the collapse of over twelve bridges in the last seventeen days. The officials have initiated action with the Bihar goverment suspending sixteen engineers after the consistent collapses. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also stated that strict action will be taken against those responsible while RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav took to his social media account to call out to the authorities and alleged that four bridges had collapsed in the state in a single day but the chief minister and both the Deputy CMs of the state were silent over it. Additionally, the Bihar Water Resources Department (WRD) also directed its chief engineers to keep a continuous track of the water levels of rivers in North Bihar, which have been experiencing higher water flow due to the continuous rains in Nepal.

Also read: 3 More Bridges Collapse In Bihar, Locals Attribute It To Heavy Rainfall

However, it is notable that while the officials and the concerned authorities attribute the incidents to the heavy rainfall in the state and blame desilting for the constant rise in the number of bridges that have collapsed in the state, these collapses largely seem to be the outcomes of poor constructions and failed infrastructural planning.

Desilting is the essential process of removing silt, sediment, and other debris that accumulate in riverbeds over time. This buildup occurs due to erosion and runoff from surrounding lands, gradually filling the river and posing significant challenges. The accumulation of silt can drastically reduce the river’s depth, obstruct water flow, and elevate the risk of flooding and while desilting has the similar impact on all the infrastructures, in the case of the bridges collapsing in Bihar, it has impacted some bridges rather seriously.

For instance, a bridge that was built about 20 years ago in the Janata Bazar area had collapsed and submerged in water recently while a bridge that was erected a hundred years ago or even more, in the British era, approximately twenty to twenty-five metres away from the bridge in the Janata Bazar area, still stands firm. This draws a stark contrast between the quality of construction of the bridges that were built around 15 to 20 years ago to one that was built approximately decades ago and raises an important question regarding the infrastructural capabilities of the government of Bihar and whether it is now the time to look for better strategies and solutions to prevent these collapses.