Bridge collapses are nothing new in Bihar. Particularly during the monsoon season, videos of bridges collapsing one after another have gone viral from Bihar. But this time in election-bound Bihar, a bizarre bridge project has been discovered. The bridge was built at a cost of 6 crore rupees. But even after 4 years, no one can use this bridge. Why? Because the bridge exists, but there's no road to reach the bridge. On both sides of the bridge, there are still agricultural fields.
The bridge was built under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana or PMGSY in the Dandkhora block of Katihar district in Bihar. From a distance, the bridge looks just like any other government-built bridge. Such bridges are constructed in various places across Bihar so that the flood-prone villages don't get cut off from other parts of the state during floods.
However, upon closer inspection, it becomes evident that there are no connecting roads on either side of the bridge. There are agricultural fields and privately owned land. This is because a network of roads was also supposed to be built along with the bridge. But work on constructing the network never got to see the light of day.
There are about 10-12 villages near the bridge. During floods, if they need to go to the district headquarters for any necessity, they will have to take long detours. This bridge was built with the purpose of cutting the journey short. Work on the project began on September 3, 2020. It was supposed to be completed by September 2, 2021.
According to the locals, the construction work on the bridge is complete. But the connecting road, especially a pier located on private land, never even started due to problems with land acquisition there. Villagers claim that the detailed planning of the project was done without acquiring private land, and work was carried forward accordingly.
According to residents, due to this mistake, the bridge today stands like a 'white elephant'. It's not being put to use. A local villager named Rabindra Yadav said, 'The bridge has been built, but there's no road. Now only cattle and goats pass through that way. Our way of life hasn't changed.'
Katihar's District Magistrate Manish Meena has acknowledged that there are problems in the construction of the bridge project. He stated that he will be looking into the matter, and if needed, Instructions for necessary investigation will be given. However, the villagers are not satisfied with this. Their question is, if the bridge for which crores of rupees were spent doesn't serve any purpose, then what's the meaning of such development?
