Bridge collapses in Bihar’s Kishanganj, fourth incident in State in eight days

Series of bridge collapses in Bihar due to heavy rainfall, raising concerns over infrastructure safety in the state.

A fourth bridge has collapsed in Bihar within eight days. On Wednesday evening, a bridge came crashing down in the Kishanganj district of the northeast Seemanchal (border) area of the State. No one was injured in the incident.

Since June 19, bridges have collapsed in Araria, Siwan and Motihari (East Champaran) districts. In the last two years, six bridges have caved in across the State.

On Wednesday, a portion of the bridge, 70 metres long and 12 metres wide, built in 2011 under the Mukhyamantri Gram Sadak Yojna (Chief Minister’s Rural Road Project), collapsed. The bridge over the Mariya river, a small tributary of the Kankai river that merges with the Mahananda, connects the Bahadurganj and Dighalbank blocks in the district.

Heavy rainfall in the catchment areas in Nepal, with which Kishanganj shares its border, led to a sudden rise in the water level and one of the pillars of the bridge could not withstand the river’s strong currents, causing the collapse, District Magistrate Tushar Singla told reporters. A dozen villages in the area have been cut off following the incident.

Bahadurganj Police station inspector Abhinav Parasar reached the spot with a team and barricaded the area restricting movement of vehicles. Officials from the Road Works Department have launched a probe into the incident.

On June 19, a portion of a 183-metre-long under-construction bridge over the Bakra river in Araria district collapsed. The bridge was being built at a cost of ₹12 crore. Three days later, on June 22, a portion of a bridge connecting Daraunda and Maharajganj blocks of Siwan district caved in. The next day, on June 23, part of a 16-metre-long bridge built under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PM Rural Road Project) came crashing down in the Ghorasahan block of East Champaran district. The bridge, connecting Amwa village to other areas of the block, was built at a cost of ₹1.5 crore by the State’s Rural Works Department.

On March 22, an under-construction bridge over the Kosi river collapsed in the Supaul district, leaving one worker dead and eight injured. The bridge, spanning 10.5 km was being built at a cost of ₹1,200 crore to connect Bakour in Supaul and Bheja in Madhubani district.