Bihar: On Thursday, Bihar witnessed yet another bridge collapse, marking the 10th such incident in just over a fortnight. The latest collapse occurred in Saran, where two other bridges had already fallen in the past 24 hours, according to District Magistrate Aman Samir.

No casualties were reported from the collapse of the 15-year-old bridge built by local authorities. The small bridge over the Gandaki river, located in the Baneyapur block, connected several villages in Saran with the neighboring Siwan district.

Official Response and Investigation
"The small bridge was constructed 15 years ago. I am going to the spot, and several other officials from the district administration are already there. The exact cause of the collapse is yet to be determined, but desilting work was recently undertaken," the district magistrate said

On Wednesday, Saran district saw the collapse of two small bridges – one in Janta Bazar and another in Lahladpur. A high-level investigation has been ordered to determine the reasons behind these incidents, the DM said.

Locals suspect that heavy rainfall over the past few days may have contributed to the collapses. In the last 16 days, a total of 10 bridges have fallen in the districts of Siwan, Saran, Madhubani, Araria, East Champaran, and Kishanganj.

The latest bridge collapse comes a day after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar instructed the road construction and rural works departments to survey all old bridges in the state and identify those needing immediate repairs. On Wednesday, the CM chaired a meeting to review maintenance policies and stated that the road construction department has already prepared its bridge maintenance policy. He urged the rural works department to finalize its plan promptly.

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