Recently Bihar witnessed the incident of bridges collapsing in rapid succession over the last two weeks. 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 the Siwan district.
The state has witnessed the collapse of over twelve bridges in the last seventeen days. 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.
State Government Innitiates A High-level Probe
In an exclusive interview with NewsX, Bihar Minister Neeraj Singh Bablu opened up about the situation in Bihar and said, “A high-level probe has been initiated into the collapse of bridges that has taken place, and as a result many engineers have been suspended so far and many contractors are set to go to jail, and the government is extremely vigilant and those who are guilty will face stringent punishments.”
Construction Companies Engaged In Soil Excavation In Gandaki River Blacklisted
According to the ground report from NewsX, the Bihar government has taken several steps to rectify the issue such as the suspension of 15 engineers who were found to be negligent. Furthermore, the construction company Mateshwari Constructions has also been blaclisted, who had the contract of collecting soil from the Gandaki River. The maximum number of bridges that had collapsed were situated on the Gandki River from Siwan to Chapra. The task of excavating soil was taking place in this river in order to link it with the Ganga, and the task of soil removal was given to mateshwari construction company, which has now been banned.
Engineers Suspended
After the collapse of 12 bridges in rapid succession, the state government suspended as many as 15 engineers on Friday. The Bihar government under Nitish Kumar’s leadership has also mandated the construction of new bridges. The cost incurred during the construction of the new bridges will be borne by contractors found guilty of constructing faulty bridges. The decision comes after the reports submitted by the flying squad pointed towards the negligence of engineers, who were ineffective in monitoring the main reason behind the bridges collapsing.
Chaitanya Prasad, Additional Chief Secretary of the State Water Resources Department, blamed the engineers for not taking proper care of the situation and highlighted the lack of due diligence by the contractors who were behind the incidents. Briefing the media, Prasad stated, “It appears that engineers didn’t exercise proper care, and contractors were not diligent either.”
The Rural Works Department has also begun the process of placing the contractor involved in the construction of the bridge in Araria district on a blacklist. Additionally, Dipak Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary of RWD, stated that payment to the contractor or firm for previous work has been halted pending completion of the investigation.
Furthermore, the department has requested explanations from the relevant officials regarding the bridge collapses in East Champaran on June 23 and in Madhubani on June 26. Although the steps taken by the state government are in the right direction the key issue at the heart of the problem still remains, are these steps enough to curb any future violation? To find a solution to this recurring problem there should be a focus on long-term solutions that ensure proper safety and protocol before and after such infrastructure is built.
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