India's Collapsing Bridges: A National Infrastructure Crisis Fueled By Corruption, Neglect & Greed

Bihar witnessed its worst floods in living memory in 2007, adversely impacting an estimated ten million people. I was asked to cover the floods, and a Bolero taxi drove me from Patna to Supaul in north Bihar, which was among the worst affected districts.

The entire countryside was flooded and several times during this memorable journey the Bolero was stalled in knee deep water. Fortunately, the many bridges that I crossed in this 197-kilometre long journey were all intact.

I cannot say the same today as bridges across the country seem to be falling like nine pins and that too at a time when the rainfall is not as intense as what Bihar faced in 2007.

One of the cities I crossed in this marathon journey was Khagaria. Last year, a bridge in Khagaria that connected it with the Munger district and built under the auspices of the Mukhya Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana in 2012 collapsed, adversely affecting the movement of 80,000 people.

In 2024, another major under construction bridge connecting two crucial towns in Samastipur and Patna districts collapsed. The bridge was being built by the infamous Navayug Engineering Company, under whose construction the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel caved in two years ago in the Uttarakashi district of Uttarakhand.

Bihar and Gujarat seem to be competing with each other in the number of bridge collapses. In 2024, Bihar witnessed 24 bridge collapses in a span of three months. Shockingly, the infamous Aguwani-Sultanganj bridge has experienced multiple collapses forcing the Supreme Court to seek a response from the Bihar government to do a high-level structural audit of all its bridges. The result of this audit—if it was ever done—has not been put in the public domain.

Gujarat, the state Prime Minister Modi likes to tout for its industrial prowess, is facing a similar systemic collapse of its infrastructure starting with its bridges. On Wednesday morning, the 40 year-old Gambhira Bridge in the Vadodara district split into two resulting in several vehicles plunging into the Mahisagar River, causing the death of thirteen people and injuring many more.

Forty years is not such a long period in the life of a bridge. Lack of timely repairs had seen the Gambhira bridge fall into a state of structural decay. Several groups had warned the state government, demanding it be shut down in order to carry out these urgent repairs. Sadly, no action was taken.

Or take the case of the Hatkeshwar Bridge, built in Ahmedabad at a cost of Rs 40 crore and touted to last 100 years. Four years later, the bridge was found to be structurally unsound and the AMC, shamelessly, has passed a tender asking it be demolished.

Of course, the collapse of the infamous Morbi suspension bridge, which had been reopened just four days after repairs but collapsed resulting in the death of 141 people in October 2022, remains fresh in our memories. Gujarat has seen over 25 major bridge collapses in the last couple of years, pointing to a systemic failure in its infrastructure governance.

Contractors cut corners, politicians receive large paybacks and officials continue to pass the buck. Behind every collapsed structure is a trail of ignored complaints, wasted taxpayer money, and shattered families.

Maharashtra is following suit as is Uttarakhand. The recent Pune bridge collapse over the Indrayani River was caused by a combination of factors. These included structural weaknesses due to age and rust combined with excessive overcrowding, specifically by tourists and vehicles. A lack of maintenance and a failure to conduct timely structural audits resulted in the death of four people and left 125 seriously injured.

Who has been held accountable for these collapses? Uttarakhand provides the perfect example of how officials continue to pass the buck from one organisation to another.

A detailed PWD survey in 2022 estimated that in the last five years 37 key bridges had collapsed in Uttarakhand while another 27 bridges were on the brink of collapse. Senior officials, on condition of anonymity, admitted that with crucial funds being diverted for the construction of Char Dham Yojana, all other infrastructure projects were in a state of neglect. The district of Pithoragarh alone lost 15 bridges while the capital Dehradun lost three crucial bridges in 2021 alone.

India's longest suspension bridge—the Dobra-Chanti bridge across the Tehri dam—developed cracks within nine months of its completion. The bridge was inaugurated at the end of 2020. Following the cracks, all traffic on this road has been stopped to the annoyance of thousands of residents living across the dam.

The most significant collapse was of the key Dehradun-Rishikesh bridge constructed on the Jhakan River, a tributary of the Ganga, located at the Rani Pokhari village. Engineers had boasted at the time of its inauguration that it would last for over 100 years. This crucial bridge links Dehradun to the Jolly Grant airport.

Leading geologist Dr S Sati blamed illegal sand mining for this state of affairs. “Sand is a porous material that absorbs water thereby helping to reduce the flow of the water. But when sand is removed from the river bed, the river flows at greater speed and at greater volume. This increases the pressure on the structure and creates a situation where several bridges have collapsed,” explains Dr Sati.

Thirty-four PILs have been filed in the Nainital high court against rampant sand mining. The court has taken cognisance of the problem, but little has changed on the ground.

Himanshu Thakkar, an engineer who heads the South Asia Network on Dams River and People, believes our politicians do not view these bridge collapses as a setback. “Rather they see them as an opportunity to make more money,” said Thakkar.

Accountability on all infrastructure projects is the need of the hour.

Rashme Sehgal is an author and an independent journalist.

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