Two bridges in Bihar’s Siwan district collapsed on Wednesday amid heavy rainfall, marking the seventh such incident in the state within the past 15 days. Thankfully, no casualties or injuries were reported.
The two bridges, approximately 35 years old, are located in the district’s Deoria block and connect several villages to Mahrajganj. Their collapse has disrupted traffic and human movement in the area.
One of the bridges, constructed in 1998 at a cost of Rs 6 lakh from the funds of then MP Prabhunath Singh, and the other, built in 2004 for Rs 10 lakhs from the same funds, had not been repaired since their construction.
Villagers suggested that recent heavy rainfall and a surge in the river Gandaki might have contributed to the collapse by weakening the bridge’s structure.
This incident comes just 11 days after another bridge collapse in Siwan, highlighting growing concerns over Bihar’s infrastructure. On June 22, a portion of a bridge collapsed in the Darounda area.
Similar incidents have been reported in districts like Madhubani, Araria, East Champaran, and Kishanganj recently, prompting the Bihar government to establish a high-level committee to investigate these occurrences.