Bihar sees 15th bridge collapse in a month

ARARIA: Yet another bridge collapsed in Bihar on Tuesday evening, 15th such incident in the state in a span of four weeks. The latest bridge, situated on Parman river at Amhara village in Araria district's Forbesganj block, was swept away due to heavy pressure of floodwaters in the river, an official said.

Araria district magistrate Enayat Khan told media persons that the said bridge was constructed by rural works department (RWD) in FY 2008-09, and that it was damaged during 2017 floods, after which it was declared closed for road traffic.
Executive engineer (RWD) of Araria division, Prabin Kumar, said the bridge was declared unfit for use in 2017. "But it was repaired and renovated in FY 2020-21. Our office has sent a check list of this bridge to the higher officials in the department," he said.
Two weeks ago, the state govt had suspended 15 engineers in connection with the series of bridge collapses. The decision was taken after a probe panel submitted its report to the water resources department (WRD).
The report found that the engineers were negligent and monitoring was ineffective, which is the main reason behind the collapse of small bridges and causeways in the state, additional chief secretary of WRD, Chaitanya Prasad, told reporters recently.