Built in 2011 at a cost of ₹25 lakh as part of the Mukhyamantri Gram Sadak Yojana, the 70-meter-long and 12-meter-wide bridge gave way to the power of the floodwaters.
In Kishanganj, Bihar, a section of a 13-year-old bridge fell on Wednesday night, shutting off 40,000 residents from dozens of villages to the mainland. In the last week, Bihar has seen four instances of this kind.
The 12-meter-wide and 70-meter-long bridge, which was constructed in 2011 at a cost of ₹25 lakh as part of the Mukhyamantri Gram Sadak Yojana, gave way under the weight of flooding brought on by nonstop rain. As of yet, no casualties have been reported.
Traffic has been halted and barricades placed on both sides of the bridge by the administration. The bridge is situated in the Bahadurganj block of the Kishanganj district, close to Bansbari hamlet, at Shrawan Chowk.
The executive engineer of the rural works department (RWD), Shrawan Sahni, stated, “We visited the site on Wednesday evening and later traffic movement on it was stopped completely.” “We have written to the department after regularly monitoring it.”
“The traffic on the bridge has been stopped and guards have been deputed,” stated Circle Officer (CO) Ashish Kumar. Only light traffic was permitted because the bridge was already harmed.
The CO stated, “The Mariya River got flooded and one portion of the bridge gave way due to torrential rains in the catchment areas of Nepal.” “The department in question has already been notified that the bridge requires repairs.”
Experts are currently looking into the cause of a bridge collapse in the nearby Araria district, which coincided with the fall of the bridge at Kishanganj.
Constructed at an expense of ₹12 crore, the 183-meter bridge in Araria collapsed on June 18, shortly before it was officially opened.
On June 23, just hours after the concrete in the West Champaran district was cast, a section of the bridge that was being built as part of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana collapsed. On June 22, a minor bridge over a Gandak rivulet collapsed due to an abrupt water flow in the Maharaganj subdivision of Siwan district.