Another instance of bridge collapse came to the fore in Bihar on Thursday, making it the 10th such incident to have been reported from the state in just over a fortnight, an official said.
“The latest incident was reported from Saran which witnessed two more bridge collapses in the last 24 hours,” District Magistrate Aman Samir said, PTI reported.
No casualty was reported after the structure, built 15 years ago by local authorities, collapsed this morning, he said.
Also Read: Bihar bridge collapse: Second bridge caved in in one week, probe ordered
The small bridge over the Gandaki River was located in the Baneyapur block and served as a vital link connecting several villages in the Saran district with the neighbouring Siwan district.
“The small bridge was constructed 15 years ago. I am going to the spot. Several other officials of the district administration have already reached there. The exact cause of the bridge collapse is yet to be ascertained, but desilting work was recently undertaken,” the district magistrate told PTI.
On Wednesday, the Saran district witnessed the collapse of two small bridges – one in Janta Bazar area and another in Lahladpur area.
“A high-level probe has been ordered to find out the reason for the collapse of these small bridges in the district,” the DM said.
Also Read: After Bihar, portion of under-construction bridge collapses in Jharkhand’s Giridih | Watch
Local reports suggest that heavy rainfall over the past few days in the district likely contributed to the collapse of these small bridges.
In total, 10 bridges have collapsed across Siwan, Saran, Madhubani, Araria, East Champaran, and Kishanganj districts in the last 16 days. The most recent incident occurred just a day after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar instructed the road construction and rural works departments to assess all old bridges in the state and identify those needing urgent repairs.
On Wednesday, the Chief Minister chaired a meeting to evaluate maintenance strategies. He noted that the road construction department has already formulated a bridge maintenance policy and urged the rural works department to promptly outline its plan for bridge maintenance.
