Following the collapse of twelve bridges in Bihar over a span of two weeks, the state government, led by Nitish Kumar, suspended fifteen engineers on Friday. The Bihar government also ordered the reconstruction of the new bridges, stipulating that the cost of construction will be imposed on the contractors found guilty of negligence.
The decision came after reports from flying squads highlighted that engineers had been negligent and monitoring was ineffective, which were identified as the main reasons behind the bridge collapse.
Chaitanya Prasad, the Additional Chief Secretary of the State Water Resources Department, criticized the engineers for not taking proper care and underscored the lack of diligence from the contractors as contributing factors to the incidents. During a media briefing, Prasad stated, "It appears that engineers didn’t exercise proper care, and contractors were not diligent either.”
The total number of bridge collapses in Bihar over the past 17 days rose to twelve, with the most recent incident occurring in Saran district on Thursday.
Deepak Singh, Secretary of the Rural Works Department (RWD), commented on the situation, noting that the bridge over the River Bakhra in Araria was reported damaged on June 18. Both state and central teams are conducting an inquiry into the incident. As part of the investigation, four engineers were suspended, with two others already suspended for unrelated reasons. Payments to the contractors involved will be withheld until the inquiry concludes. Final actions against the contractor and consultant will be taken based on the final report submitted by the inspecting teams.
Singh added that the RWD is in constant communication with the district administration, seeking additional input to ascertain further details regarding the incidents.
