Supreme Court issues notice to Bihar over multiple bridge collapse incidents, seeks response from Nitish Kumar govt

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Bihar government to respond to a petition filed over the recent multiple bridge collapse incidents in the state.

The plea, filed by advocate Brajesh Singh, sought directions to the Nitish Kumar-led government to conduct the highest level of structural audit of all existing and under-construction bridges in the state. 

The three-judge Bench, headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, directed the Bihar government and other concerned respondents to file a reply to the petition seeking to demolish or retrofit weak structures, depending on their feasibility.

The petitioner said the issue of bridge collapses in Bihar required urgent consideration by the Supreme Court. He called for maintaining a comprehensive database regarding the health of all existing bridges in the state.

“It is a matter of grave concern that in a state like Bihar, which is the most flood-prone state of India, the total flood-affected area in the state is 68,800 sq km, which is 73.06 per cent of the total geographical area of the state and hence such routine accrual of the incident of falling bridges in Bihar is more disastrous as the lives of people at large are at stake,” reported ANI, citing the petition.

The petition further noted that the Court's urgent intervention was required to save the lives of people at large who are living in uncertainty as even the under-construction bridges have collapsed. He also asked for continuous monitoring of all the existing and under-construction bridges in the state.

In the past two years, there have been three significant incidents involving the collapse of under-construction bridges and other bridge collapse incidents of varying scales in the districts of Araria, Siwan, Madhubani and Kishanganj, among others. 

These incidents resulted in fatalities and injuries. The petitioner said government negligence and a corrupt nexus of the contractors and concerned agencies were responsible for these incidents.