Bihar: A 15-year-old bridge over the Gandaki River collapsed in Bihar’s Saran district on 4 July. This is the third bridge collapse in Saran within 24 hours, according to District Magistrate Aman Samir.
According to details, in the past 17 days, At least 12 bridges have collapsed across Bihar. Though no casualties have been reported as of yet. The bridge used to connect villages in Saran to neighbouring Siwan district.
The new bridge collapse took place a day after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ordered a survey of all old existing bridges in the state to identify those needing urgent repairs.
Earlier in the day, a bridge collapsed in Bihar, that marked 10th such incident in the state in just over a fortnight.
“The latest incident was reported from Saran, which witnessed two more bridge collapses in the last 24 hours,” District Magistrate Aman Samir told newswire PTI.
To undertake a structural audit and set up an expert committee to identify bridges that can be strengthened or demolished based on the findings, a a PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Bihar government.
On Wednesday, the Saran district witnessed the collapse of two small bridges—one in the Janta Bazar area and another in the Lahladpur area.
Apart from Saran, bridge collapses were reported in Siwan, Chhapra, Madhubani, Araria, East Champaran and Kishanganj districts in over a fortnight.
Two bridges collapsed back to back in Kisanganj between June 27 and June 30.
One was reported in the village of Khoshi Dangi in Thakurganj, where a pillar of a bridge constructed in 2007-2008 with funds from then MP Taslimuddin was damaged on June 27 due to heavy downpour and subsequent increase in water discharge in the river. Close to 50,000 people are claimed to be affected by this, according to local Mukhiya Jawahar Singh.
