Patralekha Chatterjee | Collapsing bridges, airports no promo for ‘Viksit Bharat’

In times of war, bridges make attractive targets. They are attacked. Their collapse disrupts the enemy’s lines of communication. It is called “bridge busting”. But what explains the collapse of not one, but ten bridges, in just over a fortnight, in Bihar?

Bridges have been collapsing with monotonous regularity in Bihar, catapulting the state to the status of a top headline-grabber amid all the turbulent national and international news. The state government, headed by JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar, a nine-time chief minister and an engineer by training, has responded in predictable ways -- it has set up a high-level committee to probe the recent bridge collapses; it is talking about stern action against anyone found guilty of lapses. The Bihar Engineering Services Association (BESA) has warned that there could be more such collapses in the monsoon season, when rivers are in spate.

The BESA has demanded a structural audit of all recently completed and under-construction bridges in the state. Familiar questions are being asked about the possible use of substandard materials by contractors, poor maintenance, carrying capacity and lack of resilience in extreme weather.

While Bihar’s record of collapsing bridges may be hard to match, this is not a new story, nor is it only about Bihar. A suspension bridge over Machchhu river in Morbi city, Gujarat, collapsed in October 2022. Scan the headlines in recent days, and disasters leap out, from different corners of the country. Not just bridges. On June 28, in Delhi Airport’s Terminal 1, a canopy collapsed after heavy rain, leading to the death of a 45-year-old taxi driver, the sole breadwinner for his family, and injuries to many more. Canopies of two other airports -- at Jabalpur and Rajkot -- have also collapsed in recent days. As I write comes the news of a portion of the four-lane Gurgaon-Sohna elevated flyover caving in again, within eight months, and a slab of another flyover collapsing on a moving car in Mumbai's Andheri area. The list goes on.

A common thread emerges from all the talk about investigations and compensation. It knits the recent disasters, and should force us to turn our gaze to the other side of India’s infrastructure story, beyond ribbon-cutting and inaugurations. Why is the government at the Centre, and in affected states, so quiet on maintenance and regular structural and safety audits? What is being done to equip critical infrastructure for climate-change fuelled extreme weather?

“Every structure is meant to last for a certain number of years. It comes with an ‘expiry date’. That works if there is regular maintenance. Every structure must be maintained. It must be subjected to a rigorous structural audit. This means paying attention and prompt response to recommendations and strengthening the structure when necessary. That is key to avoiding a disaster. But unfortunately, in India, often there is a silo approach to development which hampers collaboration of every stakeholder. Whether in construction or maintenance or audit, one must look at who is doing the job and whether they are qualified for it,” says Dr Rita Savla, a medical doctor and founder-director of RADHEE Disaster and Education Foundation, a Mumbai-based NGO working in post-disaster trauma management and road safety.

“This also means scrutinising how tenders are drafted, how companies are selected when it comes to construction and maintenance. There have been many disasters in the past. We have not learnt too many lessons. This leads to a culture of impunity. Because errant parties know they will get away,” she adds.

The government routinely outsources many projects to private firms but, as Dr Savla points out, “the overall oversight remains with the government”. When lapses are detected after a disaster, government officials are merely transferred. But as she says: “A transfer is not a punishment… There is tremendous lethargy in the system. It is critical that a tender is drafted in a language that does not leave loopholes. There should be a strict monitoring system to prevent disasters. Finally, it is very important to look at what happens after a disaster.” If a bridge collapses, people can get injured. Post-disaster, it is medical help that determines the fate of a person, whether she or he will survive or die, as Dr Savla points out. “We should talk about the rights of survivors if they are injured -- which means access to required medical care which should not only save life, but also ensure early recovery, prevent disability along with financial compensation.”

One common refrain in the wake of the recent infrastructure-related disasters pivots around intense rainfall. But it should surprise no one that it rains during the rainy season. And in times of climate change, erratic and extreme weather are the new normal. The discussion should be around what is being done.

“Climate change will likely lead to more extreme weather events, exacerbating the effect on airports that are already affected and putting at risk those that have not yet experienced climate-related adverse effects. Airports face numerous climate challenges which may impact their operations, infrastructure, and business continuity,” notes a report by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

Many airports around the world have begun adapting to wild weather swings. Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, for example, has installed a special hydraulic model developed to calculate a variety of climatic scenarios and established new standards for drainage.

What about India?

“The country's urban infrastructure is not developed with climate resilience in mind. We need to prepare our infrastructure for intense storms and floods that climate change will churn out in the next fifty years,” says Dr Roxy Koll, climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and lead author of IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) reports.

Niranjan Sahoo, a senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, also notes that “extreme weather events are becoming a regular phenomenon. Our infrastructure planning, as evident from recent incidents, is clearly out of sync with requirements”.

Worryingly, disasters are weaponised in political battles in hyper- polarised India. Discussions pivot around who inaugurated a structure, and not when the last safety audit was done. Despite all the brouhaha, even today, an ordinary citizen does not know when Delhi’s Terminal 1 had its last safety audit and whether it was overseen by a government agency.

“Sharpening polarisation around infrastructure is very unfortunate. Instead of owning up and investing on their upkeep, it has become a blame game between the two principal (political) parties. In the process of scoring points, the moot issues of climate resilient infrastructure are lost,” says Mr Sahoo.

The new coalition government, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, promises a “Viksit Bharat” (Developed India) by 2047. Collapsing bridges and airports are not good promos.