Supreme Court issues notices to Bihar govt, NHAI on PIL against multiple bridge-collapse incidents

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, July 29

As Bihar witnesses multiple bridge-collapse incidents in recent weeks, the Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the state government, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and others on a PIL seeking directions to them to undertake a structural audit of bridges in the state by an expert committee.

Pointing out that 10 bridge-collapse incidents have been reported from Siwan, Saran, Madhubani, Araria, East Champaran and Kishanganj districts of Bihar in a fortnight, petitioner advocate Brajesh Singh raised concerns about the safety and longevity of the bridges in the state that witnesses floods and heavy rains during monsoon.

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud asked the Bihar government, NHAI, Road Construction Department Additional Chief Secretary, Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Ltd chairperson and Rural Works Department Additional Chief Secretary to respond to Singh’s PIL that sought directions to identify bridges that can be either strengthened or demolished based on its findings of the expert committee.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has already directed the road construction and rural works departments to conduct a survey of all old bridges in the state and identify those requiring immediate repair.

Singh, however, sought real-time monitoring of bridges as per the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways norms.

Describing Bihar as the most flood-prone state in India, Singh said the total flood-affected area in the state was 68,800 square km — 73.06 per cent of its total area.

“Hence, such routine accrual of the incident of falling bridges in Bihar is more disastrous as the lives of people at large are at stake. Therefore, an urgent intervention of this court is required to save the lives of people, as the under-construction bridges before its accomplishment collapsed routinely,” Singh submitted.