Bihar: Condition of bridge deteriorates just 3 months after construction

Patna: The condition of a bridge in Bihar’s Khagaria district has deteriorated just three months after it was thrown open to the public, an official said.

The bridge is located at Rahimpur village over the Burhi Gandak river on the four lane National Highway 31 which connects Patna via Begusarai.

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has blocked the affected section of the bridge and diverted the traffic to the other side of the bridge. Due to the deterioration concrete slabs are falling into the river. The local commuters claim that low quality construction materials were used and hence the deteriorating condition of the bridge within three months of its opening.

The NHAI had given the contract to Punj Lloyd construction company which had built the bridge at a cost of Rs 15.5 crore. It has a length of 244 meters. The construction was started in 2017 and completed in April 2023.

“After receiving information about the deterioration, we went there and blocked the affected section for traffic. The repair work is underway,” said Santosh Kumar, DDC of Khagaria.

In the last one year, 10 bridges have either collapsed or deteriorated in Bihar:

- Two pillars of a bridge sank into sand in Mechi river in Kishanganj district. It was a NHAI project.

- An under construction bridge collapsed at Aguwani Ghat Khagaria on the Ganga river on June 4.

- An under construction bridge collapsed in Purnea district on May 16, 2023.

- A British era bridge collapsed in Saran on March 19, 2023.

- An under construction bridge on Bihta-Sarmera road collapsed on February 19, 2023.

- An iron bridge on Kamla Balan river in Darbhanga district collapsed due to excessive weight of a loaded truck on January 16, 2023.

- An under construction bridge collapsed on November 18, 2022.

- A bridge collapsed in Simri Bakhtiyarpur block on the Kosi river in Saharsa district on June 9, 2022.

- A British era bridge at Fatuha in Patna district collapsed due to excessive rain and an overloaded truck on May 20, 2022.

- Aguwani Ghat Khagaria bridge on Ganga river collapsed on April 30, 2022.