A collapsed bridge in Bihar's Araria.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday transferred to Patna High Court a PIL which sought the highest level of structural audit of all such existing and under construction bridges in Bihar after collapse of a number of structures over there.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said, "We will transfer this Patna High Court, let them monitor it on a monthly basis."
The court said it has gone through the counter affidavit which gave details of actions taken including inspections etc.
The petitioner's counsel claimed no third party inspection has taken place as yet. The state government claimed departmental action has been initiated against erring officers. He also claimed over inspection of over 10,000 bridges has taken place.
The plea was filed by Brajesh Singh last year also seeking a direction to demolish or retrofit weak structure depending upon feasibility.
It also sought a direction to the Bihar government for making proper and effective policy or mechanism for real time monitoring of the bridges.
The petitioner said that day by day, the major incidents of unfortunate loss to human lives as well loss to public exchequer was happening, due to the gross negligence of the government and corrupt nexus of the contractors and concerned agencies.
His plea also asked the court to pass appropriate directions to the state government for making an efficient permanent body through legislation or executive order, comprising of high level experts from the concerned field for continuous monitoring of all the existing and under construction bridges.
Such a body should also be held responsible for maintaining the comprehensive database on the health of all the existing bridges in the state, it said.
The plea also contended, "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 as it is manmade disasters."
In June, 2024, within 11 days, four bridges had collapsed, majority of them under construction stage, putting the right to sound infrastructure, a facet of right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution under shadow due to inaction of the authorities, it stated.
The petitioner also said that it was a matter of grave concern that in the 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, about 73.06% of the total geographical area of it, such routine accrual of the incident of falling bridges in Bihar is more disastrous as the lives of people at large at stake.
The petitioner said an urgent intervention of this court is required to save the lives of people at large, living in the uncertainty, as the under construction bridges before its accomplishment got collapsed in the routine manner.