Another under-construction bridge in Bihar’s Madhubani region reportedly collapsed on Friday, marking the fifth such incident in the state over the past nine days. The collapse occurred in the Madhepur Block of Bheja police station area, where a 75-meter-long bridge was under construction.
The bridge, which had been under construction since 2021 at a cost of Rs 3 crore, was a project overseen by the Rural Works Department of the Bihar government and was under-construction for the past four years. As water levels rose, a 25-meter-long supporting pillar gave way and crashed into the river below, highlighting the vulnerability of the structure. The photographs that were released from the site of the accident revealed that the fallen pillars were covered with large tarpaulin sheets.
The Opposition leader of the Bihar assembly, Tejashwi Yadav was quick to addressed the collapse of the bridge. He took the opportunity to criticize how the state had been handling infrastructural projects.
𝟗 दिन के अंदर बिहार में यह 𝟓वाँ पुल गिरा है।
मधुबनी-सुपौल के बीच भूतही नदी पर वर्षों से निर्माणाधीन पुल गिरा। क्या आपको पता लगा? नहीं तो, क्यों? बूझो तो जाने? #Bihar #Bridge pic.twitter.com/IirnmOzRSo
— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) June 28, 2024
This latest collapse follows a series of similar incidents across Bihar. On Thursday, a bridge caved in at Kishanganj district. Just days earlier, on June 23, an under-construction small bridge collapsed in East Champaran district. Another incident occurred on June 22, when a bridge built over the Gandak canal in Siwan collapsed. The series of collapses began on June 19, when a portion of an under-construction concrete bridge over the Bakra River in Araria came apart within seconds, despite significant investment.
