In yet another embarrassing incident, an under-construction steel Bailey bridge over the Shu river between Mepsoro and Geram villages in Papum Pare’s Toru circle, on the Nechipu-Hoj NH 13 (Sagalee-Seppa road), collapsed on Saturday. Fortunately, no lives were lost in the incident. It raises a serious question mark over the quality of work. This is not the first time that incidents of bridge and road collapse have happened. Earlier, a newly-constructed bridge collapsed at Tali in Kra Daadi district and a newly-constructed retaining wall on NH 415 collapsed near D sector in Itanagar.
These kinds of incidents happening at regular intervals not only cause embarrassment but also cause massive loss to the state exchequer. For a resource-crunched state like Arunachal, every penny matters and they should be judiciously used. Increasing incidents of collapse of newly-constructed roads and bridges are a matter of deep concern. Every time, the authorities shift the blame on nature. Of course there is a basic fault with design due to which such incidents happen. There is a need for greater monitoring while taking up major infrastructure projects in the state. The state government should look into this aspect seriously. The present mechanism is not effective enough to ensure strict compliance with the project’s guidelines. The lack of effective monitoring is leading to poor execution of infrastructure projects. The result is the collapse of bridges and roads.