New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sought a reply from the Bihar government and others, including the NHAI, on a PIL that raised concerns about the safety of bridges in the state and also sought a direction for the highest level of structural audit of all such existing and under construction bridges, against the backdrop of the collapse of a number of structures in the state recently.
A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud issued notice to the Bihar government, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Road Construction Department's additional chief secretary, Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Ltd chairperson, and rural Works department 's additional chief secretary.
The bench, also comprising justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, was hearing a filed by Brajesh Singh seeking a direction to demolish or retrofit weak structures depending upon feasibility.
The petitioner urged the apex court to issue directions for structural audits of the bridges and the setting up of an expert panel to identify bridges that can be either strengthened or demolished based on its findings.
The plea submitted that the instant issue requires an urgent consideration of the apex court as within two- or three years major under-construction bridges and other several incidents of collapse of the large, medium and small bridges have occurred wherein some people succumbed and others were injured. The plea said these unfortunate man-made incidents led to the loss of human lives as well as loss to the public exchequer and it happened due to the gross negligence of the government and the corrupt nexus of the contractors and concerned agencies.
The plea contended that it is a matter of grave concern that in a state like Bihar, which is the most flood-prone state of the country, the total flood-affected area in the state is 68,800 sq. km. which is 73.06% of the total geographical area of the state. The plea stressed that such routine incidents of bridges falling in Bihar are more disastrous, as the lives of people are at large at stake and therefore the urgent intervention of the apex court is required to save the lives of people, who are in the present living in uncertainty.
