Another bridge collapses in Bihar, 15th such incident since June
The Vaishali district administration said the 20-year-old structure had been closed to the public since 2021 after floods damaged it.
A bridge recently collapsed in Paharpur village of the Raghopur block in Bihar’s Vaishali district, reported PTI on Sunday, citing unidentified officials. No casualties were reported.
This marks the fifteenth bridge collapse in Bihar since June.
The recent collapse has affected about 20,000 people in the Raghopur East and Raghopur West panchayats, cutting off their access to the district headquarters.
Paharpur village is in the Assembly constituency of Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav. The bridge was constructed when Yadav’s mother Rabri Devi was the chief minister of Bihar.
“The small bridge that collapsed on Saturday was 20 years old and it was closed to the public in 2021,” the district administration said in a statement. “The bridge, which was constructed with help from an MLA local area development fund, was earlier damaged due to the heavy pressure of floodwaters in the area in 2021. The small bridge completely collapsed on Saturday.”
As per the local area development fund scheme, MLAs receive a yearly allocation of Rs 2 crore from the deputy commissioners of their districts for various local development projects.
Raghopur’s residents have demanded that the state government take action to restore their access to the rest of the district. “We have also informed our MLA Tejashwi Prasad Yadav’s representative and officials of the district administration,” said Vinod Yadav, a resident of Raghopur East. “However, nothing has been done in this regard so far.”
Bihar had witnessed a spate of bridge collapses this year. In the first week of June, at least three bridges collapsed in Saran district amidst incessant rain.
Similar incidents were reported in Siwan, Madhubani, Araria, East Champaran and Kishanganj districts, prompting the state government to set up a high-level committee to investigate these incidents.
On July 29, the Supreme Court notified the Bihar government on a petition calling for a comprehensive structural audit of all existing and under-construction bridges in the state, reported The New Indian Express.
The petitioner has said that if any bridges are found to be structurally weak, they should be demolished or retrofitted.
