Lagatar24 Desk
Patna: In response to the collapse of 12 bridges in Bihar over the past two weeks, the state government, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has suspended 11 engineers and ordered the reconstruction of the affected bridges. The cost of rebuilding will be imposed on the contractors found responsible for the collapses.
The decision follows reports from flying squads that identified negligence by engineers and ineffective monitoring as the primary reasons for the structural failures.
Chaitanya Prasad, Additional Chief Secretary of the State Water Resources Department, criticized the engineers for their lack of proper oversight and highlighted the contractors’ lack of diligence as contributing factors. “It appears that engineers didn’t exercise proper care, and contractors were not diligent either,” Prasad said during a media briefing.
The latest incident occurred on Thursday when a bridge in Bihar’s Saran district collapsed, bringing the total number of such incidents to twelve within the past 17 days.
Deepak Singh, Secretary of the Rural Works Department (RWD), detailed the ongoing investigations. “The bridge over the River Bakhra in Araria was reported damaged on June 18. Both state and central teams are conducting an enquiry, with four engineers suspended, and two others already suspended for unrelated reasons. Payments to the contractors concerned will be withheld until the enquiry concludes, and final actions will be taken against the contractor and consultant after the final report is submitted by the inspecting teams,” Singh explained.
He added that the RWD is working closely with the district administration to gather more details regarding the incidents.
The suspension of engineers and the decision to hold contractors accountable underscores the Bihar government’s commitment to ensuring infrastructure safety and integrity. The reconstruction efforts aim to restore public confidence and prevent future occurrences of such incidents.
