PATNA: A major incident was averted when a large slab of the Vikramshila Setu, which connects Bihar’s Poorvanchal and Seemanchal regions in north Bihar, fell into the river Ganga in Bhagalpur district in the early hours of Monday.
The large slab of Vikramshila Setu collapsed near pillar number 133 and fell into the Ganga River, causing panic in the area. No lives were lost in the incident.
Sources claimed that around 11:33 PM on Sunday night, police personnel noticed signs of sudden ground subsidence and cracks developing near pillar number 133. Senior officials were alerted, and vehicular access to the bridge was immediately suspended.
Within an hour and a half later—at 1:10 AM—a slab approximately 25 meters in length collapsed into the river.
"A timely alert prevented a major incident. Otherwise, buses bound for Muzaffarpur and Araria would have been on the bridge. Currently, all vehicular movement across the bridge has come to a standstill, and traffic has been diverted toward Munger and Sultanganj," a senior administrative officer said.
The foundation stone for the bridge was laid on November 15, 1990, by the then Chief Minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav and it was inaugurated in July 2001 during the tenure of chief minister, Rabri Devi. The responsibility for constructing the bridge was entrusted with the Uttar Pradesh State Bridge Corporation.
The initial estimated cost for constructing this 4.7-kilometer-long bridge was approximately Rs 167.58 crore—a figure that subsequently rose over time.
According to official government records, approximately Rs 838 crore was spent on its construction.
According to experts, this bridge had been on "life support" for quite some time. As recently as March 2026, the protective walls of pillars 17, 18, and 19 had collapsed. At the time, the department dismissed the incident, stating that the walls merely as external structures but the collapse of these walls exposed the pillars' foundations directly to the strong currents of the Ganga river and the effects of 'scouring' (soil erosion).
Moreover, the gap between the bridge's expansion joints had widened to as much as six inches, causing severe vibrations in the bridge whenever heavy vehicles passed over it.
Meanwhile, an investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the collapse of a portion of the bridge.
