Bihar Govt Suspends 15 Engineers Amid Bridge Collapses

Day after the recent bridge collapse in Saran, the Bihar government suspended 15 of its engineers involved in the bridge construction. Nitish Kumar also asked for the status of other bridges in Bihar in two weeks.

Amid the monsoon season, Bihar is witnessing the fall of bridges. In only the last fortnight, 10 instances of the bridge collapsing have been registered. Since June 18, ten bridges have collapsed in Kishanganj, Araria, East Champaran, Madhubani, Siwan and Saran.

The bridge collapse cases have raised serious concerns about the safety of the people of Bihar and the quality of its Infrastructure. The first case in this series was the collapse of a newly constructed bridge over the Bakra River in Araria on 18 June. This was followed by the collapse of a bridge over the Gandak River in Siwan on 22 June. 

The next day, an under-construction bridge in East Champaran, with a budget of approximately Rs 1.5 crore, also fell. The recent one is A 15-year-old bridge over the Gandaki River in Bihar's Saran district on 4 July. The bridge is used to connect villages in Saran to the neighbouring Siwan district.

The opposition has attacked the government. RJD leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, said, “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?” While Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary said Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a survey of all old bridges in the state and an investigation is being conducted into the collapses.