On Monday, the Supreme Court heard a petition filed regarding the continuous collapse of bridges in Bihar. The court has sought a reply from Bihar and the Central government in this matter. The petition demands that all the bridges in Bihar be audited so that their condition can be known. Arrangements should also be made to monitor all the bridges currently being built.
In Bihar, many bridges collapsed due to rains in the past few days. In the state, 12 bridges, big and small, collapsed in 15 days. Advocate Brajesh Singh, a resident of Bihar, has filed a petition in the court demanding orders to demolish all the weak bridges.
Brajesh Singh has said in his petition that till the filing of the petition regarding the unfortunate collapse of bridges in Bihar, there is news of collapse of 6 bridges in Araria district. Most of these bridges are built on rivers. The petition also mentions the incidents of collapse of bridges in Siwan, Madhubani, Kishanganj and other places.
What was the demand made in the petition?
The petition has appealed to the Supreme Court to issue appropriate orders or directions in the matter. It has been demanded to direct the state of Bihar to audit and demolish all the weak existing bridges and under-construction bridges in the state. Along with this, it has been demanded to direct to make a proper policy or mechanism for real-time monitoring of built, old and under-construction bridges in Bihar. Also, the petition states that the Supreme Court should issue a mandatory guideline for monitoring the strength of bridges using sensors for bridges falling in the area of Bihar.
The petition has appealed to the Supreme Court to direct the creation of an efficient permanent body comprising high level experts from the concerned filed or to continuously monitor all the existing and under construction bridges in Bihar and to create a comprehensive database on the health of all the existing bridges in the state.