By Vishwapati
Patna: Due to corruption, bridges are collapsing daily in Bihar. During the last monsoon, over a dozen major bridges were washed away by strong river currents across various locations in the state. A petition demanding an inquiry into these incidents was filed in the Supreme Court last year.
Today, the Supreme Court transferred the petition concerning the bridge collapses to the High Court, with the hearing scheduled for May 14.
In fact, on Monday, a hearing was held in the Supreme Court regarding the collapse of bridges in Bihar. While hearing the petition filed regarding the collapse of bridges, the Supreme Court said that such cases of local importance should first be heard by the High Court of the concerned state. Thus the case has been transferred to the Patna High Court.
The Supreme Court directed the registry to send all the documents related to the case to the High Court.
The Supreme Court has directed the Patna High Court to hear the case soon. The Supreme Court has fixed the date of hearing in the High Court as May 14. Supreme Court lawyer Brajesh Singh has filed a PIL demanding the Bihar government to conduct a structural audit of all the existing and under-construction bridges in the state. The petitioner alleges massive corruption in bridge construction, leading to structures collapsing “like a pack of cards” every monsoon.
(The author, Vishwapati, is a senior journalist based in Patna. He may be contacted at vishwapati25@gmail.com)
