Highway Authority Suspends 4 Officials Following Bihar Bridge Collapse, Expert Committee Is Established

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) on Sunday terminated four employees who were involved in the project, a day after a section of a bridge that was still being built fell near Ghori in Bihar’s Kishanganj district. The tragedy marked the state’s eleventh bridge collapse in the previous three years.

Once finished, the bridge across the Mechi river would connect Kishanganj with Katihar. “Four officials who were involved in the bridge’s construction have been suspended by the NHAI. The project is estimated to cost Rs 1500 crore, according to NHAI Regional Manager Awadesh Kumar. However, he withheld the identities of the officials who had been suspended.

On Saturday, a pillar of the bridge on NH-327E near Ghori fell. The bridge was not yet open despite the superstructure being built in May. An expert committee has been established, and it will visit the location to conduct a thorough examination, according to a different NHAI representative.

The bridge was a crucial part of the NH-327E widening project that G R Infra Projects led and that connected Galgaliya to Araria at a cost of Rs. 1500 crores. The project sought to cut the distance between Siliguri, West Bengal, and Araria, Bihar, by around 80 km. According to Hindustan Times, this alternate route to NH-57 would have made travel easier for citizens of Supaul, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Kishanganj, and Araria.

more bridge collapse occurrences
On June 4, a second bridge that was still being built and was meant to link the district of Khagaria with Bhagalpur collapsed. The implicated construction business received a show cause notice from the State government.

Tejashwi Yadav, the deputy chief minister, had already claimed that parts of the bridge had been deliberately destroyed. The ultimate collapse proved that his claims concerning the bridge’s structural soundness were accurate.

A year before, during a rainstorm, a different piece had collapsed.

Concerns regarding building methods increased on May 16 when a bridge that was still being built across the Dumuhni River in Bihar’s Purnia district collapsed barely hours after concretization started. Additionally, on March 19, 2023, a bridge in Saran district across the Mahanadi River broke way, injuring the driver and cleaner of a chip truck carrying large stones.