Collapsed or intentional demolition? The Bihar bridge that tumbled twice in one year

Even as the country reels from the horrific Odisha train accident, which has killed over 270 people and injured thousand more, Sunday saw another tragedy unfold as an under-construction bridge over the Ganga river collapsed in Bihar’s Khagaria. Incidentally, the Aguwani-Sultanganj bridge, which collapsed on Sunday, had also buckled in April last year. The incident has prompted a war of words between the ruling Janata Dal-United {JD(U)}-Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alliance and the Opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with the latter demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. But what exactly happened? Why did the bridge collapse? Here’s what we know. Aguwani-Sultanganj bridge collapses On Sunday, people were left aghast when a 200-metre stretch on the Aguwani Sultanganj Ganga bridge came crashing down like a deck of cards around 6 pm. The moment when the bridge collapsed was captured by several locals on their phones and cameras and the video soon turned viral on social media.

VIDEO | Under construction Aguwani-Sultanganj Ganga bridge collapsed in Bihar's Bhagalpur earlier today. More details are awaited. pic.twitter.com/q26wzRoIlT

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 4, 2023

Fortunately, no casualties have been reported after a section of the bridge, linking Bhagalpur with Khagaria district, collapsed into the Ganga river. The collapse of the bridge brought back memories from 29 April last year when it had collapsed last year. At the time, a storm and the rains had been blamed for the bridge succumbing and falling down. In fact, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had also expressed surprise at the official’s explanation for the bridge collapse, saying: “I cannot understand how can a bridge collapse due to strong winds. There must be some error (which led to collapse of the bridge).” Construction on the Aguwani-Sultanganj bridge started in 2014. It was due to be completed in 2019 but work on it is still on. Described as Nitish Kumar’s dream project, this 3,160-metre long bridge is supposed to connect Khagaria with Bhagalpur, and comes with a price tag of Rs 1,700 crore. According to government officials, the bridge will significantly reduce the travel time between Bhagalpur and Khagaria. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has also been quoted as saying that the bridge held great importance as it would reduce the load on the Vikramshila bridge near Bhagalpur. [caption id=“attachment_12692732” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The bridge collapse on Sunday had no fatalities or injuries. PTI[/caption] ‘A planned demolition’ Shortly after the bridge came tumbling down like a pack of cards, the BJP in Bihar slammed the administration and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonwalla described it as “the bridge of corruption” and took a dig at the chief minister. “Aguwani-Sultanganj bridge in Bihar’s Bhagalpur - dream project of CM Nitish Kumar collapses. This is the second time the bridge has collapsed. Imagine the level of corruption ! Rs 1750 crores of tax payer money takes Jal Samadhi with the bridge. THE BRIDGE OF CORRUPTION COLLAPSES EVEN AS NITISH BABU IS BUSY ATTEMPTING TO BE A BRIDGE OF OPPOSITION UNITY. Wait & see how Pappu Media ignores this story or somehow blames PM Modi for it,” Poonwalla tweeted. BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, a former Bhagalpur MP, also came out with a statement blaming the mishap on “corruption” and demanding a “high-level inquiry” into the incident. He further alleged that the incident “has put a question mark on construction works being undertaken across the state, many of which have been awarded to the same contractor”. **Also read: A look at other deadly bridge crashes in India** However, in a counter to this narrative, the government said that the section of the bridge collapsed owing to a planned demolition. In a press conference, Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, along with Pratyay Amrit, the additional chief secretary of the road construction department, stated that that the decision to demolish the bridge was made following a previous collapse of a section during a thunderstorm in 2022. The minister said the bridge had been deliberately destroyed in a planned manner as it had design flaws. “We had approached IIT-Roorkee, which is esteemed for its expertise in construction matters, to conduct a study,” Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav said. “It is yet to come up with a final report but experts who had studied the structure had informed us that there were serious defects.” Additional Chief Secretary of Road Construction Department Pratyay Amrit claimed that the state decided to go ahead with the demolition of the bridge without waiting for the final report. “It was decided that we must not take any chance and wait for a final report,” he said, according to news agency PTI. “So we went ahead with pulling down parts of the bridge. Today’s incident was a part of such a preventive exercise.” On Monday, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar commenting on the matter said, “The bridge that collapsed yesterday had collapsed last year also. I have instructed officials to take strict action. It is not being constructed correctly that’s why it is collapsing again and again. The department will look into it and action will be taken.” [caption id=“attachment_12692742” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A portion of a bridge across the Burhi Gandak River that collapsed on on 18 December 2022 at Sahebpur Kamal, in Begusarai. File image/PTI[/caption] Bihar bridge failures The collapse of the Aguwani-Sultanganj bridge, adds to a series of bridge failures in Bihar. Last December, a bridge snapped into two and fell into the Burhi Gandak river in Begusarai district. No one was injured in the incident as the bridge was yet to be formally opened to the public due to the lack of an access road. Prior to that, a month before a labourer died and another was injured when an under-construction bridge in CM Nitish Kumar’s Nalanda district came down like a pack of cards. And Bihar is no stranger to bridge collapses. Ten labourers were injured last July when an under construction reinforced cement concrete (RCC) bridge collapsed in Bihar’s Katihar district. The Rs 1-crore bridge was being built on Kosi stream to connect the people of two blocks of Katihar: Sameli and Barari. In the same month, a small bridge connecting Gopalganj to Saran was also washed away. Additionally, in June, a part of a bridge being constructed over the Kosi river was washed away due to strong current in Bhagalpur district. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.