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Synopsis

The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Bihar government in a PIL citing the recent incidents of bridges collapsing in the state.

A bench of CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra has sought the state government's response in the PIL.

Filed by one Advocate Brajesh Singh, the petition seeks a direction to the State of Bihar to conduct a structural audit of all existing bridges and under construction bridges in the state and to demolish or retrofit weak structures depending on feasibility.

Singh submits the instant issue requires an urgent consideration as within two years three major under construction bridges and other several incidents of collapse of large, medium and small bridges has happened wherein some people succumbed, and others were injured in the said unfortunate man-made incidents due to the gross negligence of the government and corrupt nexus of the contractors and concerned agencies.

"...back to back collapse of the bridges in Bihar clearly indicates that there has been no lessons learnt and safety of
critical infrastructure like bridges is not taken seriously and these routine’ incidents cannot be termed merely accidents, it is manmade disasters", the top court has been told.

It is further sought that a high-level expert committee be constituted for continuous monitoring of all the existing and under construction bridges in the State of Bihar and also for maintaining the comprehensive database on the health of all existing bridges in the state. 

"It is a matter of grave concern that in a state like Bihar, which is the most flood-prone state of India, the total flood-affected area in the state is 68,800 sq. km which is 73.06 per cent of the total geographical area. Hence such routine accrual of the incident of falling bridges in Bihar is more disastrous as the lives of people at large are at stake. Therefore the urgent intervention of this Hon'ble Court is required to save the lives of people, as the under-construction bridges before its accomplishment collapsed routinely..", the PIL states.

State of Bihar should also formulate a proper policy for real-time monitoring of the bridges constructed, old and under construction on the same analogy as developed by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, the petition submits.

Case Title: Brajesh Singh vs. State of Bihar