Floods, corruption, lax maintenance take toll on India’s creaking bridges: ‘lucky that no one died’
- Experts say scientific bridge health monitoring systems needed to prevent collapses linked to intense downpours and faulty construction by corrupt firms
Torrential monsoon rains coupled with poor maintenance and corruption have been blamed for a wave of bridge collapses in India, putting the spotlight on infrastructure safety as heads roll and officials initiate policies to contain the crisis.
Within three weeks, 13 bridges crumbled in the eastern state of Bihar, with the latest structure coming down on Wednesday. Another installation failed in the northern Uttarakhand state over the weekend.
There are growing fears that the ongoing rainy season could trigger more causeway cave-ins.
“It is monsoon time. There has been an abnormal amount of rain, which is the reason behind the collapse of bridges,” said federal minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who earlier suspected a “conspiracy” behind the disaster.
Nitish Kumar, Bihar’s longest-serving chief minister, held a high-level meeting this week to take control of the situation and suspended 16 senior bureaucrats for dereliction of duty in maintaining the bridges.
On Monday, Kumar also hurriedly launched a bridge-specific maintenance policy that was in the works for nearly a decade.
