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

Representative Image. File Photo

Another bridge collapsed in Bihar on Thursday, the 10th such incident in the state in just over a fortnight, an official told PTI.

The latest incident was reported from Saran, where two more bridges collapsed in the last 24 hours, District Magistrate Aman Samir told PTI.

No casualties were reported after the structure, built 15 years ago by local authorities, collapsed this morning, he claimed, reported PTI.

The 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.

The Saran district witnessed the collapse of two small bridges on Wednesday, one in the Lahladpur area and another in the Janta Bazar area.

"A high-level probe has been ordered to find out the reason for the collapse of these small bridges in the district," Samir said, reported PTI.

As per the PTI report, locals claim that heavy rainfall for the last few days in the district might have contributed to the collapse of these small bridges.

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

The latest incident took place a day after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar directed the road construction and rural works departments to conduct a survey of all old bridges in the state and identify those that require immediate repair.

The CM had chaired a meeting on Wednesday to review the maintenance policies. He said the road construction department has already prepared its bridge maintenance policy, and the rural works department should immediately chalk out its plan at the earliest, reported PTI.

Seventh bridge collapse in Bihar

In a troubling trend for Bihar, a portion of a bridge over the Gandaki River in Siwan district collapsed on Wednesday morning, marking the seventh such incident in the state within the past 15 days.

The small bridge, situated in the district's Deoria block, connects several villages with Mahrajganj.

This marked the second incident of a bridge collapse in Siwan in the last 11 days.

(With inputs from PTI)