A Bihar bridge collapse leaves many questions and a viral video in its wake

An under-construction bridge connecting Aguwani Ghat (Khagaria district) and Sultanganj (Bhagalpur district) in Bihar, collapsed on Sunday, June 4. The incident, which was caught on camera, revealed two sections of the bridge falling one after the other.

Four labourers working on the bridge were reported injured and one was missing.

Four laborers working on the bridge are injured. One is missing https://t.co/t097wBFWFc

— ᴋᴀᴍʟᴇsʜ sɪɴɢʜ / tau (@kamleshksingh) June 4, 2023

The incident occurred around 6 pm on Sunday, prompting Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to order an investigation, asking to identify those responsible for the collapse. The 'Pul Nirman Nigam' has been instructed to provide a detailed report on the incident.

Panchkula-based, SP Singla Constructions has refused to comment on the incident. A technical team of the same is to visit the site in Bihar.

The Nitish Kumar government is facing a lot of heat from the BJP-led opposition over frequent incidents of bridge collapses in the state. After all, it is hardly the first such incident.

Bihar's bridge meltdown

There have been over half a dozen such incidents in Bihar in just the last year. After every such incident, there are significant claims of investigations and fixing accountability. But what happens to the intended outcome of these investigations; perhaps another such incident?

• May 15, 2023: An under-construction bridge in Bihar's Purnea collapsed, just after 4 hours of its concretisation.

An under-construction road bridge of #Bihar's #Purnea district collapsed four hours after concretisation early on Monday.

The local villagers alleged that the contractor and the engineers were using lower quality materials which led to the accident. pic.twitter.com/hMqPzaVtdQ

— IANS (@ians_india) May 15, 2023

• April 2022: The same bridge over Ganga which collapsed yesterday, had incurred damage last year too, due to a storm. The bridge was being built at an estimated cost of Rs 1,717 crore.
• July 2022: In Bihar's Katihar district, another under-construction reinforced cement concrete (RCC) bridge came down, injuring at least 10 workers
• In that same month, a bridge connecting Gopalganj and Saran districts was washed away, and so was the investment of Rs 264 crore.

In July, 10 labourers were injured after an under construction bridge collapsed in Bihar's Katihar district.

A small bridge connecting Gopalganj to Saran was swept away in the same month. The government had pumped in Rs 264 crore on the entire 12-km-long stretch.

— ᴋᴀᴍʟᴇsʜ sɪɴɢʜ / tau (@kamleshksingh) June 4, 2023

• February 2023: Not far from the capital Patna, another under-construction bridge on the  Bihta Sarmera four-lane state highway 78 collapsed.
•  There is a long list of these under-construction bridges as well as old ones crashing down, including the one in Saharsa, Darbhanga, CM Kumar's home district Nalanda and so on in Bihar.

SP Singla Constructions, the company constructing the bridge in Bhagalpur district and a bunch of other infrastructure projects has come under scanner after the incident. A few of the bridges that collapsed recently are associated with the company.

The recent bridge and foot over bridge collapses in India

• In the recent (October 2022) tragedy in Morbi, Gujarat, a pedestrian suspension bridge over the Machchhu River collapsed, resulting in the loss of at least 135 lives and causing injuries to over 180 people.

ALSO READ: 141 dead in Gujarat bridge collapse; rescue operation still on

• On March 14, 2019, a section of a pedestrian bridge that linked the northern end of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) railway station to Badaruddin Tayabji Lane collapsed, crashing onto the road below in Mumbai. The incident caused due to improper structural audits of the bridge resulted in the loss of six lives and caused injuries to a minimum of 30 individuals.

ALSO READ | CST foot over bridge collapse in Mumbai: Will those responsible please stand up?

• The Majerhat Bridge in South Kolkata collapsed in an unfortunate incident that occurred in September 2018. The collapse led to the tragic death of three individuals and caused injuries to a minimum of 25 others. The crash resulting from the lack of maintenance of the bridge raised awareness about bridge safety in India.
• A portion of a flyover In Varanasi crashed on a mini-bus and people on the road below in 2018, killing at least 18 people. 
• During the construction of a cable bridge in Surat, Gujarat, on May 25, 2014, a 650-tonne, 35-meter-long slab collapsed from a 40-foot height, burying 16 workers. Ten workers died instantly, while six suffered various injuries.
• Just 12 days before the Commonwealth Games 2010 in Delhi, a newly constructed pedestrian bridge close to Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, suffered a collapse, resulting in injuries to 23 labourers, with five of them being in critical condition.

Incidents like this are no surprise to India; at least Bihar. A majority of these incidents point to low-quality construction materials being used, negligence and collusion of contractors, engineers and officials. These incidents underscore the urgent need for improved infrastructure maintenance and stringent safety measures to prevent such tragedies in the future.