Bhagalpur’s Bridge Collapse

India has been encountering tragedies in the past few days. First the Odisha train accident and now the Bhagalpur’s Bridge collapse. Yesterday evening at around 6 pm an under-construction four-lane bridge in Bihar’s Bhagalpur collapsed. 

The cost of the bridge is evaluated at around Rs 1,700 crore. It was being built to connect Sultanganj in Bhagalpur and Aguwani in the Khagaria district.  

Locals Captured The Incident

The happening was captured by many locals and was shared on various social media platforms.

#WATCH | Under construction Aguwani-Sultanganj bridge in #Bihar’s #Bhagalpur collapses. The moment when bridge collapsed was caught on video by locals. This is the second time the bridge has collapsed. Further details awaited.

(Source: Video shot by locals) pic.twitter.com/juVsCwogMF

— TOI Patna (@TOIPatna) June 4, 2023

“We were expecting that the inauguration of the bridge would happen by November-December later this year. But the way it collapsed is unfortunate. A probe must happen into the incident, there’s some fault,” Sultanganj JDU MLA Lalit Narayan Mandal told ANI.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who earlier inaugurated the bridge in 2014 is taking this incident into account and has ordered a probe for a detailed investigation. It is said that strict actions will be taken against the responsible. 

Delay In Construction

The bridge was reckoned to finish by the end of 2019 but got delayed due to many factors affecting the construction. 

This is the second time in 14 months this bridge has collapsed. Last year a loose/unsecured cable was revealed to be the reason behind a few pillars’ collapse. However, it was envisioned to be completed by the end of this year.