Bridges have started to collapse in Bihar again.

A portion of the under-construction four-lane Bakhtiyarpur (Patna)–Tajpur (Samastipur) bridge over the Ganga caved in on Sunday night while a smaller one over the Gandak river went down on Monday.

A 50-foot-long section of the bridge known as the Bakhtiyarpur–Tajpur Ganga Mahasetu fell near Nandini Lagunia railway station at Shahpur Patori in Samastipur district during construction.

Hyderabad-based Navayuga Engineering Company Limited (NECL) is building the bridge at a cost of ₹1,603 crore under the PPP (public-private partnership) mode. The Bihar State Road Development Corporation Limited (BSRDCL) is overseeing the construction.

The construction workers and officials quickly swung into action to sweep the incident under the carpet by crushing the slabs and burying them in the ground.

However, the eyewitnesses recorded videos of the act and circulated them across social media platforms.

The NECL was constructing the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand when it collapsed on December 12, trapping 41 workers. They were rescued with the help of central agencies, international experts and rat hole miners after 16 days.

“The mishap took place during the replacement of bearings of the girders of the mega bridge over the Ganga. One of the girders fell during the process. We are going to the spot to inspect and assess the situation,” BSRDCL chief general manager Prabin Chandra Gupta told reporters.

The Bakhtiyarpur–Tajpur bridge is a dream project of chief minister Nitish Kumar. He had laid its foundation in 2011.

The bridge will need 45km of approach roads on both ends and will cut the travel distance between south Bihar and several districts in north Bihar by 30-50km. The construction has been inordinately delayed and only 60 per cent of it has been completed so far. It is expected to be ready by 2026-end.

Another bridge over a branch of the Gandak river crumbled in the Bariyarpur block of Munger on Monday, affecting over 80,000 people. It was constructed in 2012.

Over two dozen bridges have collapsed in Bihar in the past two years, including at least 16 since June this year. Every collapse reeked of substandard construction and laxity on the part of the government in testing their quality.

The Opposition slammed the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government over the collapse of bridges in the state.

“Any bridge in Bihar can collapse anytime. Nobody can predict it because the construction quality has been so poor. It has become extremely dangerous to travel across any bridge in the state. The collapse of a span of Bakhtiyarpur–Tajpur bridge is yet another example of corruption, in which the government will not take any action,” RJD spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwary said.

The Janata Dal United (JDU), however, denied that the Bakhtiyarpur–Tajpur bridge had collapsed.

“Some parts of the under-construction bridge had rusted and were being replaced. They fell during the process. The Opposition’s questions on the quality of the work indicate its hostility to the ruling parties,” JDU spokesperson and former JDU minister Niraj Kumar said.