Another bridge collapses in Bihar, 10th such incident in over 15 days

Another bridge collapsed in Bihar's Saran district on Thursday, the 10th such incident in the state in just over a fortnight. According to District Magistrate Aman Samir, the latest incident is the third such collapse in Saran in the last 24 hours. "A high-level probe has been ordered to find out reasons for the collapse of these small bridges in the district," he said.

No casualty was reported after the structure, built 15 years ago by local authorities, collapsed this morning, he said.

The small bridge over the Gandaki river was situated in the Baneyapur block and used to connect several villages in Saran 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 the Janta Bazar area and another in the Lahladpur area.

According to locals, heavy rainfall for the last few days in the district might have contributed to the collapse of these small bridges.

Altogether 10 bridges collapsed in Siwan, Saran, Madhubani, Araria, East Champaran and Kishanganj districts in the past 16 days.

Commenting on recent incidents of bridge collapse in Bihar, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary on Thursday told reporters, "The CM, after a review meeting on Wednesday, has given a clear instruction to officials concerned to conduct a survey of all old bridges in the state and identify those that require immediate repair. The CM has also asked departments concerned to immediately prepare their respective maintenance policy for bridges or causeways in the state."

Chaudhary, also the state BJP president, said the government has already ordered a probe into the bridge collapse incidents to find out the reasons and strict action would be taken against the guilty.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, however, claimed that 12 bridges have collapsed in Bihar since June 18.

In a post on X on Thursday, he wrote, "Twelve bridges have collapsed in Bihar since June 18...Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar are silent over these incidents in Bihar. What happened to the claims of good governance and corruption-free government? These incidents show how corruption is rampant in every department of the state government."

The latest incident took place a day after Kumar chaired a meeting to review the maintenance policies of the departments concerned.

He had said the road construction department had already prepared its bridge maintenance policy and the rural works department should immediately chalk out its plan at the earliest.

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