In Bihar, it's almost as if there's a season for bridges to fall. Fortunately, as bridges approach the brink of collapse, locals become aware and major disasters are averted. Every day brings reports of newer, older, or under-construction bridges succumbing, highlighted on Wednesday when five bridges across the Siwan and Chhapra districts collapsed.
A 40-year-old bridge gives way
In Siwan, the first of three bridges collapsed at Devaria village in Maharajganj subdistrict where a pillar gave way over the Gandak River. The bridge was reportedly around 40 years old.
The second mishap occurred in the Tevta Panchayat of Maharajganj Block. Locals reported that this bridge was constructed just five years ago. A third bridge near Dhamhi village also met a similar fate.
Chhapra's bridges crumble too
Chhapra district experienced its share of collapses. The first bridge at Janata Bazaar over the Gandak River fell, followed by another a kilometer away, which locals say was roughly a century old, dating back to colonial times.
Former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav has criticized the government for its silence on the continual collapse of these structures, despite no clear reasons or culprits named over the past two weeks, including prior incidents in Araria, Siwan, Motihari, Kishanganj, and Madhubani.
Tejashwi Yadav raises questions, saying, 'For the six-party double-engine government of Bihar, it's a strange predicament that even after ten bridges, worth thousands of crores, have collapsed within a fortnight, they find no reason to blame the opposition.'
On 18th June, a bridge costing 12 crores over the Bakra River in Araria fell apart, followed by another in Siwan over the Gandak River on the 22nd—this one about 40-45 years old.
Poor quality material blamed for bridge construction failures
Shortly after, on the 23rd, an under-construction bridge in East Champaran district, valued at about 1.5 crores, collapsed. Locals accused the project of using substandard materials, leading to the failure. On the 27th, a bridge in Kishanganj over a small tributary connecting the Kankai and Mahananda rivers collapsed, and on the same day, a bridge in Madhubani district fell. Yet another bridge in Kishanganj suffered a collapse on the 30th.
