The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: The Bihar government has come out with a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the construction of bridges. Under the new SOP, agencies employed for the construction of bridges and culverts should obtain no-objection certificates (NOCs) from the state water resources department.
The new SOP comes in the wake of the collapse of 15 small and large bridges in the state since June.
According to the state’s water resources minister, Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, the SOP is to guide the road construction department, rural works department, panchayat raj department, and even water resources department, Times of India reported.
The mandatory requirement will be applicable to bridges over rivers, rivulets or canals. In the past, departments involved would just seek an NOC from the WRD, as a one-time procedure. However now, as per the new policy, WRD is directed to assess and approve the structure and design before construction of a bridge commences.
Since June this year, 15 bridges have collapsed in Bihar across six districts of Araria, Kishanganj, Madhubani, East Champaran, Saran and Siwan. More recently, a small bridge in Paharpur village, Vaishali district, collapsed recently due to flood damage sustained four years ago.
The minister said the removal of silt around bridge pillars resulted in the collapse of bridges. “The silt did not reach beyond the NSL, leading to instability. The new policy aims to prevent such failures by ensuring that bridge foundations rest on stable natural soil,” he said.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar also took cognisance of the issue and held a high-level meeting with senior officials of the key departments involved. Following the CM’s review, the government had rolled out a state bridge maintenance policy and decided to come up with health cards for all bridges for carrying out timely technical maintenance and repair work.
The government also constituted a committee of senior engineers to carry out on-the-spot assessments of bridges.