Nitin Gadkari also mentioned the British-era bridge over the Savitri river in Maharashtra last year
Highlights
- Nitin Gadkari referred to Mahad bridge collapse in Maharashtra last year
- Mr Gadkari said his ministry completed safety audit of 1.6 lakh bridges
- He said delay in road projects due to issues related to land acquisition
Weeks after
a bridge collapsed under the weight of a passing truck in Manipur, the government said there were scores of bridges across the country that could come crumbling down. "There are a 100 bridges in the country that can collapse anytime," Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari told Lok Sabha on Thursday.
A safety audit of the country's bridges and tunnels had concluded there were a total 147 bridges and tunnels of various sizes "in a distress condition". These include two bridges that were more than 100 years old.
"We have drawn up a plan to fix them... The weakest would be taken up first," he said.
A British-era bridge over the
Savitri river in the Konkan region of Maharashtra had collapsed in August last year killing nearly two dozen people. Most of them were travelling in two buses and private cars that were passing over the bridge when the structure gave away, washing away the vehicles.
According to a list of bridges in a distressed condition tabled in parliament earlier, Bihar had the maximum, 40.
Last month, a bridge on the national highway to Manipur had collapsed when a truck was passing through it.
Mr Gadkari's ministry
had launched a special project to count every bridge and culvert in the country and assess their safety. Officials have counted 1.62 lakh bridges and culverts so far under the safety audit that has cost Rs 69 crore and given each a unique identity number.
"This is aimed at creating database for future planning, monitoring and prioritization of bridges for maintaining bridges on National Highways network for safe and smooth movement of traffic," the government said.