Over 100 bridges are on the verge of collapse: Nitin Gadkari in Lok Sabha

As many as 123 other bridges in the country require immediate attention and 6,000 are structurally distressed.
Union Transport minister Nitin Gadkari (File | PTI
Union Transport minister Nitin Gadkari (File | PTI

Union Transport minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday agreed to the poor condition of more than 100 bridges as he said that they can collapse anytime.

Gadkari revealed the information as the ministry has completed a safety audit of 1.6 lakh bridges in the country and more than 100 structures were found to be in an unsound state.

“These 100 bridges can collapse anytime and they need immediate attention,” Gadkari said during Question Hour in Lok Sabha.

The union minister informed the Lok Sabha that the transport ministry had last year launched a special project to organise data regarding all bridges and culverts in the country as part of measures being taken to avert mishaps.

Twenty-three bridges and tunnels on national highways (NHs) are over 100 years old, of which 17 require rehabilitation or major maintenance. As many as 123 other bridges in the country require immediate attention and 6,000 are structurally distressed. 

These are some of the findings of an analysis conducted by the Union road transport and highways ministry under its Indian Bridge Management System (IBMS) project, India's first-ever survey of the ‘health of bridges’.

After the study, the ministry has found there are about 1.6 lakh structures, including culverts, minor and major bridges and flyovers on India’s NH network. Each of the structures has now got a unique identification number under this initiative, and undergo periodic inspection. 

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