Bihar sees 10th bridge collapse in two weeks, govt, opposition trade charges

Saran district magistrate Aman Samir, who visited the spot, told reporters: “The bridge was built with local authorities’ funds around 15 years ago. Though the exact reason for the bridge collapse is not known, desilting work had been done recently”.

This is the such collapse in Saran this week — a portion of a 150-year-old bridge gave way earlier Wednesday.

As many as 10 bridges have collapsed in Kishanganj, Araria, East Champaran, Madhubani, Siwan and Saran since June 18.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar held a high-level meeting to assess the collapses and has directed rural works, road construction and building construction departments to submit an inspection report of all under-construction and old bridges.

The collapse has caused a political storm, with the ruling Nitish Kumar government trading charges with the Opposition over who is to be held accountable. While Building Construction Minister Ashok Kumar Choudhary blamed then deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav for not putting in place the good bridge maintenance policy when he was the state’s road construction and building construction minister, the latter countered saying it was a case of “pot calling the kettle black”.

“Mahagathbandhan was Nitish Kumar’s partner for over just three of the last 20 years, the rest was all NDA,” the leader of Opposition said, demanding a thorough probe into the incidents.