2017, 2020, 2024: Bridge on Bihar's Bakra river collapses again

PATNA: A portion of a newly constructed road bridge over Bakra river collapsed near Pararia Ghat under Sikti block in Araria on Tuesday, resulting in the suspension of two engineers. No casualty was reported because the bridge had not been opened for the public as its approach roads were yet to be constructed.
The bridge, which was constructed at a cost of Rs 10 crore by the rural works department (RWD), was meant to connect the villages of Sikti block to Kursa Kanta block in Araria district.Sources said heavy rain in the upper catchment area in Nepal may have led to the bridge’s collapse.

The latest incident follows the 2020 bridge collapse on the same Bakra river due to heavy rainfall in which 12 people, including four motorcyclists, had fallen into the river.
That time the bridge had collapsed near Udahat under Jokihat police station area in Araria district.
State’s rural works department minister, Ashok Choudhary told TOI that two engineers, including assistant engineer Anjani Kumar, who was also in the charge executive engineer, and junior engineer Manish Kumar, have been put under suspension on the charges of dereliction of duty, and a four-member team, headed by chief engineer Purnia, has been formed to probe Tuesday’s incident.
“We have also directed that an FIR be lodged against the contractor Sirajur Rehman, who was constructing the bridge near Pararia Ghat, on the charges of misuse of govt money,” Choudhary said. The minister also said that the bridge collapse was a very serious matter and all the engineers who are responsible for the collapse would be taken to task.
Sikti BJP MLA Vijay Kumar Mandal alleged that the bridge collapsed due to negligence on the part of the contractor. He said the state government should also take stern action against the engineers responsible for the loss of the government fund.
Earlier in 2017, another road bridge on the Bakra river had collapsed near Pararia Ghat due to heavy rain in the river’s catchment area in Nepal. Locals said that the bridge which collapsed in 2017 was on another stream of the river. Since then, the river has changed its course near Pararia village under Sikti block.