Since approach roads to the state-built bridge had not yet been built, it was not accessible to the general public.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari stated that the Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry was not responsible for the construction of the bridge that collapsed in the Araria region of Bihar. According to Gadkari, the Bihar government’s Ministry of Rural Development was in charge of the construction.
The 183-meter-long bridge, which was scheduled to open to traffic shortly, fell on Tuesday, becoming the second this year and the seventh in Bihar to do so since 2023.
The absence of casualties was confirmed by Inayat Khan, the district magistrate of Araria.
Because the approach road was not finished, it was not operational. Thus, no casualties have been recorded,” Khan said on the phone. A technical team has been sent to find out what caused the fall, she continued.
On the Araria-Kishanganj route in the district’s Sikti block, the bridge over the Bakra river was being built. The project, which came at a cost of ₹7.79 crore, was designed to make it easier for inhabitants of the Sikti and Kursakanta blocks to move around and to shorten the travel time between the Araria and Kishanganj districts.
Ashutosh Kumar, executive engineer for the rural works department, stated that following a probe, the contractor will face consequences. According to Kumar, the occurrence was caused in part by the river’s periodic shifts in channel.
“The collapse of the bridge may have been caused by the locals’ attempt a few days ago to alter the river’s course between its two pillars.”
This tragedy in Bihar is a part of a concerning trend. One person died and eleven others were injured when an under-construction bridge across the Kosi River collapsed in the Supaul area in March. In Purnea’s Baisi area, a 20.1-meter under-construction bridge across the Dumuhni River collapsed last year not long after concrete work was finished.