[RahulNagaraj]

The four-lane Sultanganj-Aguani Ghat bridge being built across the Ganga in Bihar's Bhagalpur collapsed on Sunday, roughly 14 months after parts of it had fallen allegedly due to a loose cable. Videos of the latest collapse have gone viral and sparked fury among the public over poor construction and safety standards.

According to sources, at least 30 slabs of several pillars, including pillar nos. 9, 10 and 11, measuring around 100ft each, collapsed and fell into the river.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a probe into the incident, just like he did last time when pillar nos. 4, 5 and 6 had collapsed. A loose cable stand was stated to be the reason behind the 2022 incident. A section of people had also blamed use of poor construction material.

Nitish had laid the foundation stone of the bridge on February 23, 2014. The bridge was projected to be completed by March 2020 at the cost of Rs 1,710 crore.

A Haryana-based company had got the contract of the bridge against which the BJP is now seeking action.

Sunday’s incident took place around 6 pm and no casualties have been reported so far, the district administration said. But some news reports suggest that several workers have gone missing.

Several reasons have been put forward for the repeated collapse of the bridge:

Poor construction material

Use of sub-par construction materials by builders looking to save costs is a major problem in many projects.

When the bridge collapsed last year, Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari had blamed low-quality construction material while refuting the explanation that wind or fog had caused the structure to fail.

"How could a bridge collapse due to wind and fog? There must be some other reasons. The construction material used in the bridge must be sub-standard. Hence, it had collapsed," he had said. The Bihar road construction department is constructing the bridge.

“Prima facie it appears that the quality of construction material is substandard. During my past inspections also, I had found the quality of sand and other materials substandard,” JD(U) MLA from Sultanganj, Lalit Narayan Mandal, had said at the time.

This time too, questions have been raised over what type of material was being used for the construction of the bridge.

Union minister for power RK Singh said the incident is a clear example of high corruption in the state.

"It is a living example of corruption, and that such a big bridge worth Rs 1717 crore collapsed like cards in the Ganga. This type of incident has definite involvement of leaders, contractors and connivance of all. If the government had strictly investigated, then this would not have happened," said Singh.

Design and structural flaws

While ordering a probe into the incident, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said the construction was incorrect due to which the bridge collapsed repeatedly.

"The bridge that collapsed on Sunday 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," he said.

Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav said the state government was planning to demolish the bridge anyways as it had several design and structural flaws.

"It may be recalled that a portion of this bridge had collapsed on April 30 last year. We had, thereafter, approached IIT-Roorkee, which is esteemed for its expertise in construction matters, to conduct a study. 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," Yadav said at a press conference.
He further said that "we had already pulled down many portions which have been flagged as particularly vulnerable. Sunday's incident confirmed our worst apprehensions."

Once the final report comes, which is expected shortly, the state government will contemplate action like lodging of FIR and blacklisting of the company which was awarded the contract, Yadav added.

Loose cable stand

A loose cable stand was one of the major reasons cited for the collapse of several slabs of the bridge last year during a thunderstorm.

Officials had alleged that the strong winds had upended a stand for the tension cable that was being temporarily used to keep the slabs joined during construction.

Opposition BJP attacks Nitish

Following the latest bridge collapse, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Vijay Kumar Sinha slammed CM Kumar's governance and said, "There is a tradition of seeking commission (bribe) in this government. It is a consequence of Bihar CM's mentality of political instability that there's administrative anarchy and corruption. System is collapsing but they are talking about Opposition unity."

He further stated that there should be an immediate enquiry into the incident. "There needs to be accountability in this incident. Those involved in corruption in the government have fixed their commissions. Where is your zero tolerance on the corruption?" he added.

The 3.16km-long bridge -- connecting Sultanganj in Bhagalpur with Khagaria -- would have been the sixth one across the Ganga to connect the northern part of Bihar (NH 31) with the southern part (NH 80) between Patna and Bhagalpur, and the second bridge across Ganga in Bhagalpur district.

Source: Times Of India

[sreerknair]

Answers to this will for sure go against the Forum rules. It will also answer similar questions such as why is Bihar one of the poorest states in India. A not so elaborate response is - indifference to Corruption from the people of the State.

[NomadSK]

Haven’t seen such a large frequency of freaky accident anywhere else. I don’t have words to say when I read, “this is the second time it has failed”, as if the one-time accident wasn’t good enough to fill some pockets. And one political honcho says, "the bridge had structural defects from the beginning". Really (Rolling eyes)

Looks like some cable strands have snapped. Again, the questions arise, do we have skilled engineers to design/construct such critical structures.

Now I’m more scared about the suspension bridge which is under construction in J&K.

Rest in pieces – Bridge!

[dailydriver]

Questions like these have been asked and answered a hundred times. Every time, the answer would have revolved round a single word - CORRUPTION.

Since any in depth reply is likely to contravene the forum rules, I will rely on posting an unoriginal and clichéd piece of humour that could give some pointers.

A Babu is invited to the residence of an American bureaucrat and is shown a Rolls Royce.
.
“Isn’t it lovely?” he asks.
“Hmm, yes,” says the Babu.

“Wanna know how I was able to afford it?” the American asks.

“5% of its construction funds went into my pockets." he says, pointing to a distant bridge.

The Babu simply nods.

* * *

A few weeks later, the Babu invites the American bureaucrat to a party at his home. The American is astounded by the grandeur. It appears to be a royal mansion.

“Where did you get the money to buy it?” he asks.

The Babu takes him outside and points in a direction and says, “You see that bridge over there?”

The American wonders and asks, “What bridge?”

“Exactly,” replies the Babu

[dailydriver]

Reports say that SP Singla Constructions Private Ltd, the company that built the collapsed Bihar bridge is also in charge of constructing the Goregaon Mulund Link Road (GMLR) in Mumbai and of two projects in Gujarat:

The Okha-Beyt Dwarka Signature Bridge, estimated at Rs 962 crore... involves the construction of a 3.73 km, four-lane cable-stayed signature bridge connecting Okha and Beyt Dwarka.

The other project is the Dabhoi-Sinor-Malsar-S Road Narmada River Bridge, with a length of 900m and a project cost of Rs 165 crore

Although past performance cannot always be a pointer of the future, there are concerns being expressed about the safety of the ongoing projects.

More here and here.

Disclaimer: There are obvious political overtones in the articles referred above. Hence, reader discretion advised!

[Naetik30]

Leave alone this particular bridge incident/accident/whatever. In general, we Indians are corrupt to the core. Have the least civic sense in the world. Celebrate adjust maadi and chalta hai attitude. Think Indian-jugaad fix is the best. Have the least value for human life.

Enough of the rant.

I have always forbid my son from going on any roller coaster and such rides in India. And always tell him I just do not trust Indians to build or maintain such equipment at the necessary safety standards. In my recent visit to Disney Paris, I was more than happy to let him ride the Hyperspace mountain ride.

[Cresterk]

I'm surprised there was money left over to build anything at all after they were done divvying up the budget among themselves.

[PreludeSH]

Originally Posted by Naetik30

Leave alone this particular bridge incident/accident/whatever. In general, we Indians are corrupt to the core. Have the least civic sense in the world. Celebrate adjust maadi and chalta hai attitude. Think Indian-jugaad fix is the best. Have the least value for human life.

Enough of the rant.

I have always forbid my son from going on any roller coaster and such rides in India. And always tell him I just do not trust Indians to build or maintain such equipment at the necessary safety standards. In my recent visit to Disney Paris, I was more than happy to let him ride the Hyperspace mountain ride.

Hmm.. I go to Wonderla and take the rides. I am confident they have the right equipment with proper maintenance. There havent been any incidents there.

But I agree with our public works. Some flyovers in Bengaluru used be built by a company called U P Bridge corporation. I think they are blacklisted now. The quality of flyovers came down after it started building. The K R Market one by L&T is how they should be built. Its also pleasing to the eyes with smooth underneath.

It all comes down to oversight and public awareness. Public works in old part of the city are still done properly while the newer areas look rotten. So, yes its the people who adjust who are the culprits.

[Naetik30]

Originally Posted by PreludeSH

Hmm.. I go to Wonderla and take the rides. I am confident they have the right equipment with proper maintenance. There havent been any incidents there.

But I agree with our public works. Some flyovers in Bengaluru used be built by a company called U P Bridge corporation. I think they are blacklisted now. The quality of flyovers came down after it started building. The K R Market one by L&T is how they should be built. Its also pleasing to the eyes with smooth underneath.

It all comes down to oversight and public awareness. Public works in old part of the city are still done properly while the newer areas look rotten. So, yes its the people who adjust who are the culprits.

I did not mean Wonderla, as it has been ages since I visited it. But still, a quick google and here goes.

Wonderla incident Bangalore - https://www.newindianexpress.com/cit...l-1993298.html

[nandrive]

Originally Posted by Naetik30

I have always forbid my son from going on any roller coaster and such rides in India. And always tell him I just do not trust Indians to build or maintain such equipment at the necessary safety standards.

FYI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWRj6fRkke8

[Naetik30]

Originally Posted by nandrive

FYI
https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=nWRj6fRkke8

Folks. I was not trying to project that all other countries are better than India in all aspects. And I will stop myself from any more responses on this thread.

Just to be clear. I still hold the thought that lives are not valued enough by us 'Indians'. Yes, there are accidents in all countries. Yes people probably died there as well.

Answer this - What do you think would have happened post any such accidents? What would have likely happened in India and What would have likely happened in Europe or US? If you answer these questions honestly, you will understand my though process.

[GTO]

Mod Note: Topic discussed enough. Closing.