SC transfers plea on bridge collapse incidents in Bihar to Patna HC
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Wednesday transferred to the Patna High Court a PIL that raised concerns about the safety and longevity of bridges in Bihar after several of them collapsed in recent months.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said the Patna High Court may monitor, preferably on a monthly basis, the steps taken to ensure structural and safety audits of bridges in the state.
The bench asked PIL petitioner and lawyer Brajesh Singh, state authorities and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to appear before the high court on May 14 when the future hearing date will be fixed there.
In a brief hearing, the state government said it has inspected around 10,000 bridges in the state.
“We have gone through the counter (affidavit). We are transferring the case to Patna (High Court). In the counter affidavit, they (state authorities) have given details of what they are doing…,” the bench said.
On November 18 last year, the top court had granted the last opportunity to the Bihar government and others to file its response to the PIL on the issue.
Prior to this, petitioner Singh had moved the court seeking its nod to bring on record various news reports and additional documents to highlight the dilapidated condition of bridges in Bihar.
The court on July 29, 2024 had sought responses from the Bihar government and others, including the NHAI on the plea.
The PIL sought directions for a structural audit and setting up of an expert panel to identify bridges that can be either strengthened or demolished based on its findings.
Besides the state and the NHAI, the top court in July last year had also issued notices to the road construction department's additional chief secretary, Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Limited chairperson and rural works department's additional chief secretary.
Ten incidents of bridge collapse have been reported in Bihar's Siwan, Saran, Madhubani, Araria, East Champaran and Kishanganj districts from May to July last year. Many claimed that heavy rainfall might have led to the incidents.
The PIL raised concerns about the safety and longevity of the bridges in the state that usually witnesses heavy rains and floods during the Monsoon.
Besides setting up a high-level expert panel, it also sought real-time monitoring of the bridges as per the parameters laid by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
The petitioner highlighted that Bihar is the most flood-prone state in India. The total flood-affected area in the state is 68,800 square km which is 73.06 per cent of its total geographical area, he mentioned.
"Hence, such routine accrual of the incident of falling bridges in Bihar is more disastrous as the lives of people at large is at stake. Therefore, the urgent intervention of this court is required to save the lives of people, as the under-construction bridges before its (their) accomplishment collapsed routinely," the plea read.
In view of the bridge collapse incidents, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has directed the road construction and rural works departments to conduct a survey of all old bridges in the state and identify those in need of immediate repair.
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'Last rites' of INDIA bloc: BJP on Cong-DMK fallout in Tamil Nadu
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Wednesday took a swipe at the Congress for extending support to Vijay's TVK in forming the government in Tamil Nadu and breaking away from its long term ally DMK, saying the party has a history of "betraying" its allies.
The saffron party also attacked the opposition INDIA bloc, claiming the alliance is "falling apart like a pack of cards" and lacks any common ideology or vision.
The Tamil Nadu Congress has decided to support TVK leader Vijay in forming a secular government in the state, sources said.
The decision to support the TVK was taken at an urgent meeting of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of Tamil Nadu Congress late on Tuesday night.
Reacting to the development, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed the INDIA alliance had effectively come to an end after the declaration of assembly election results on May 4.
"There is nobody whom the Congress has not deceived. Imagine what they will do to the Samajwadi Party if they have done this to the DMK," he wrote in a post on X.
Calling it the "last rites" of the INDIA bloc, Poonawalla, in a video post, said, "It has become a Bharat free of the DMK, TMC and the Left, and now Congress has dumped the DMK for the TVK."
The BJP spokesperson alleged that the opposition bloc was formed solely out of political compulsions and personal ambitions.
"The INDI alliance never had any mission or vision. It was only about ambition for position, corruption, commission and obsession against Modi ji that they came together. But now it is all falling apart like a pack of cards," he said.
Questioning the unity of the opposition parties, Poonawalla said the alliance was absent in several states during the election.
"Where was the INDI alliance in Bengal, in Kerala, in Gujarat, in Punjab, in Delhi, in Haryana, in Karnataka? There is no INDI alliance," he said.
The DMK on Wednesday described the Congress move to extend support to TVK as a "backstab" by its long-time national ally.
Speaking to PTI videos, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Anadurai said, "The Congress party has decided to ally with the TVK, pledging their support to the party. I think they have backstabbed... They have backstabbed the people of Tamil Nadu. They've backstabbed the mandate given by the people of Tamil Nadu."
He said that the decision came even before the electoral process had fully concluded.
"Even before the ink on the returning officer's signature on the victory certificate dried up, they've chosen to go ahead with an alliance," he said.
Vijay's TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, falling short of the halfway mark. He needs the support of 10 MLAs to form a government with a simple majority. The results were declared only on Monday.
The Congress has won five seats, while the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) has bagged four seats. The CPI and CPI-M have two seats each. The outgoing ruling party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has won 59 seats while the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has won 47 seats.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won only one seat, and so have the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and the Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam (AMMK), while the VCK has won two seats.
The Congress had fought the assembly polls in a pre-poll alliance with the DMK, while the BJP had a tie-up with the AIADMK.
