Three bridges under construction collapsed in Bihar, two of which were built in 2022-2023 and one in 2023-24. Two people died as a result of these incidents. (Representative image: IANS)
All six deaths reported from bridge collapses were from bridges under construction
A total of 15 functioning bridges and 11 bridges under construction collapsed on India's national highways in the past three financial years, killing six people, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) informed the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
The ministry said it is primarily responsible for the development and maintenance of the country's national highways, on which several bridge collapses have occurred.
“The Department conducted a condition survey of existing bridges as part of the preparation of a detailed project report for the New Hampshire Development Project in parts of New Hampshire and the repair/rehabilitation/reconstruction of existing bridges as part of the corridor development project,” the Alliance said. Minister Nitin Gadkari said in a written reply.
The ministry has also issued guidelines for bridge inspections and surveys of the condition of existing bridges, followed by appropriate repairs, rehabilitation and reconstruction depending on the nature and severity of the damage.
“The ministry has issued policy guidelines and model tender documents for real-time bridge structural health monitoring in continuous/discrete mode. The ministry has also launched a comprehensive Indian Bridge Management System for bridge condition assessment and subsequent repair/rehabilitation/reconstruction decision-making process .
Of the 15 functional bridges that collapsed, two each were found in Haryana, Odisha and Manipur, while Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura have one each. No casualties were reported from the collapse of these operational bridges.
All six deaths caused by bridge collapses were reported to have been caused by construction of the bridges. Three bridges under construction collapsed in Bihar, two of which were built in 2022-2023 and one in 2023-24. Two people died as a result of these incidents. Two bridges each collapsed in Odisha and Tamil Nadu, while one each collapsed in Delhi, Sikkim, Maharashtra and Kerala.
Two persons died in Singtam-Tarku bridge collapse incident in Sikkim. The bridge collapsed due to excessive rainfall and glacial lake outburst flooding.
Another person died when a bridge on National Highway 785 in Tamil Nadu collapsed due to a hydraulic jack failure while repairing bearings.
In Delhi, one person died after a bridge collapsed on National Highway 248BB. The bridge collapsed due to mechanical failure of the hydraulic jacks.
