Patna. Another bridge collapsed in Bihar’s Saran district on Thursday, which is the 10th incident of bridge collapse in the state in the last fortnight. District Magistrate Aman Sameer said that this is the third incident of bridge collapse in Saran within the last 24 hours. He said, “A high-level inquiry has been ordered to find out the reasons for the collapse of these small bridges in the district.”
He said that the bridge built by the local administration 15 years ago collapsed on Thursday morning and there is no report of any casualty. This small bridge located in Banaypur block on the Gandaki river connected many villages of Saran to the neighboring Siwan district.
The district magistrate told PTI-Bhasha, “This small bridge was constructed 15 years ago. I am going to the spot. Many other officials of the district administration have already reached there. The actual reason for the collapse of the bridge is not yet known, but recently the work of removing silt from the bridge has been started.” On Wednesday, two small bridges collapsed in Janata Bazar area and Lahladpur area in Saran district.
Locals said that these small bridges probably collapsed due to heavy rainfall in the district for the last few days. 10 bridges have collapsed in the last 16 days in Siwan, Saran, Madhubani, Araria, East Champaran and Kishanganj districts. On the recent incidents of bridge collapse in Bihar, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary told reporters on Thursday, “After the review meeting on Wednesday, the Chief Minister has given clear instructions to the concerned officials to survey all the old bridges in the state and identify the bridges that need immediate repair. The Chief Minister has also asked the concerned departments to immediately prepare their respective maintenance policy for the bridges. ” State BJP President Chaudhary said that the government has already ordered an inquiry into the incidents of bridge collapse to find out the reasons and strict action will be taken against the culprits.
On the other hand, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav said that 12 bridges have collapsed in Bihar since June 18. He wrote on ‘X’ on Thursday, “12 bridges have collapsed in Bihar since June 18… Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar are silent on these incidents in Bihar. What happened to the claims of good governance and corruption-free government? These incidents show how corruption is prevalent in every department of the state government.” The latest incident in Saran took place a day after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar held a meeting on Wednesday to review the maintenance policies of the concerned departments. Kumar had said that the Road Construction Department has already prepared its bridge maintenance policy and the Rural Works Department should immediately prepare its plan.