Pune Bridge collapse highlights India's crumbling infrastructure: A look at recent bridge failures

Pune: In a major catastrophe, two people died and several are feared swept away after an old bridge over the Indrayani river in Pune collapsed on Sunday. However, this is not the first time that a bridge has broken down, claiming the lives of innocent people.

As stated by the Times Of India in 2024, A total of 21 bridges — 15 built and six under construction collapsed on National Highways in the past three years, the road transport ministry informed the Rajya Sabha on July 31, 2024.

Going by a 2020 study, 'Analysis of bridge failures in India from 1977 to 2017', published in the international journal 'Structure and Infrastructure Engineering', as many as 2,130 bridges have collapsed during multiple phases of construction in the last 40 years. Based on a sample size of 2,010 bridges, the study also claimed that natural disasters in India have had the most catastrophic impact on bridge infrastructure collapse, accounting for an estimated 80.3% of all bridge failures. In addition to natural calamities, material deterioration has been cited as the cause of "10.1%" of bridge failures, while overloading has been implicated in "3.28%" of bridge failures.

Let’s have a look at the major bridge collapses in India in the recent past:

1. Morbi Suspension Bridge Collapse (October 30, 2022): The British-era suspension bridge on the Machchhu river in Morbi collapsed on October 30, 2022, killing 135 people, including several women and children, and injuring 56 others.
2. Mumbai foot overbridge collapse (March 14, 2019): A part of a foot overbridge connecting the north end of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) railway station to Badaruddin Tayabji Lane collapsed and fell onto the road. Six people died and at least 30 others were injured in the accident.
3. Varanasi flyover collapse (May 15, 2018): A segment of a flyover under construction by a government-owned corporation collapsed onto a bustling street in Varanasi, killing 18 people.
4. Kolkata's Majerhat flyover collapse (September 4, 2018): In a tragic turn of events, a section of South Kolkata's almost 50-year-old Majerhat bridge collapsed, resulting in three fatalities and 24 injuries.
5. Kolkata flyover collapse (March 31, 2016): The Vivekananda Road flyover in West Bengal’s Kolkata partially collapsed in 2016, killing 27 people and injuring 80 others. The collapse occurred at the Girish Park neighborhood, which is a crowded area in the city.
6. Darjeeling bridge collapse (October 22, 2011): At a Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) meeting in Bijanbari, Darjeeling district, an old wooden footbridge collapsed over a spring due to crowd pressure, killing 32 individuals and injuring over 60 more.
7. Arunachal Pradesh footbridge collapse (October 29, 2011): A footbridge across the Kameng River in Arunachal Pradesh fell, just one week after the tragic Darjeeling event. At least 30 people, mostly children, were killed in the incident.

Routine inspection, testing, reporting, and corrective measures for restoration will reduce such catastrophes.