On a scorching June afternoon in Bihar, a tractor laden with maize approached what seemed like a sturdy three-span bridge in Saharsa district. Within moments, the structure crumbled beneath the vehicle’s weight. Just weeks later, 1,200 kilometres away in Gujarat, the Mujpur-Gambhira bridge in Vadodara claimed 20 lives when it too collapsed without warning.

These seem to be symptoms of an infrastructure crisis in India that has claimed 202 lives and injured 441 people across 170 bridge collapses between 2021 and 2025, as per an analysis of media reports by Newslaundry. 

But official figures tell a different story. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) reported only 42 collapses between 2019 and 2024. An analysis of media reports suggests that 2024 alone saw 48 collapses, more than the ministry’s five-year count. 

What the government does admit is that many bridges are in bad shape: around 30 percent of culverts, 12 percent of minor bridges, 8 percent of major bridges, and 5 percent of extra-long bridges are listed in “poor condition” under its  Indian Bridge Management System.

What’s puzzling is that money doesn’t seem to be the issue. 

In 2024–25, MoRTH set aside over Rs 5,300 crore for roads and bridges, 82 percent of which was spent. Another Rs 33,000 crore came from toll collections under the Permanent Bridge Fees Fund. States also received Rs 8,493 crore through the Central Road and Infrastructure Fund. Yet, despite the funding, dangerous bridges continue to crumble, raising serious questions about oversight.

States leading the tally

Bihar, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh reported the most bridge collapses between 2021 and 2025, with 26, 25, and 17 incidents respectively. They were followed by Gujarat (16), Jammu and Kashmir (14), Madhya Pradesh (12), Uttar Pradesh (8), Karnataka (6), and Kerala and Sikkim with five each.

Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu recorded four incidents, while Odisha and Haryana had three. Tripura, Assam, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh each reported two collapses. Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, and Delhi also reported one collapse each. 

Bihar leads the tally, with 15 collapses in just 2024 alone, as per media reports.

Alarmed by frequent bridge collapses in Bihar, Advocate Brijesh Singh approached the Supreme Court, which criticised the state’s explanation as a vague list of schemes and policies without addressing causes. The case was transferred to the Patna High Court, which directed the state to file a detailed affidavit on bridge conditions. Singh’s petition called for a high-level structural audit and corrective action for unsafe spans. In response, Bihar roped in IIT Delhi and IIT Patna to inspect 85 major bridges under its newly launched Bridge Maintenance Policy 2025, aimed at assessing 3,968 bridges. So far, Bihar’s collapsing bridges have reportedly cost the state at least Rs 3,953 crore.

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand reported 25 bridge collapses since 2021, with 21 in 2021 alone. A Bailey bridge collapse in Chamoli district in June 2024 cut off access for over 4,000 residents, prompting suspensions and a promise of accountability from the Chief Minister. The state has since earmarked Rs 1,200 crore for road safety and received Rs 10.07 crore under the CRIF. Himachal Pradesh, which saw 17 incidents and 11 deaths in four years, has begun dismantling decades-old bridges and reconstructing them under PMGSY-III. For 2024–25, it received Rs 10.15 crore under CRIF and a broader infrastructure plan worth Rs 3,667 crore from the Centre.

Closely following behind was Gujarat, which reported 16 collapses over four years, including five in 2024 alone, leading to 157 deaths and 178 injuries. The 2022 Morbi tragedy, which killed 135 people, remains India’s deadliest. Following a recent collapse in Vadodara, authorities inspected over 2,100 bridges and shut down five deemed hazardous. For 2024–25, Gujarat allocated Rs 385 crore for new bridges, approved over Rs 1,100 crore in bridge projects, and received Rs 45.35 crore under CRIF. The collapses have triggered a wave of emergency audits and underscored the urgent need for preventive infrastructure safety nationwide.

In the Vadodara collapse, the concrete support pedestal was reportedly crushed under load. “That is clearly a maintenance issue. All elements of a bridge don’t have the same lifespan – for instance, bearings wear out much sooner than beams or pillars. If inspections miss these details, failures are only a matter of time,” says urban infrastructure expert Devanshu Pandit.

Inspection an issue?

Pandit says design flaws are rarely the real reason bridges fail.

“Design problems happen only in rare cases because, conventionally, if you take the river bridges or the flyover collapses in cities, they are built with ordinary technology, where design mistakes are rare. Failures often occur in structures made 30-40 years ago that haven't attained their design life [expected lifespan]. Bridges are made to last 100 years. If the design were bad, it should have collapsed in a year.”

He adds that when bridges fail during construction, it’s usually because of poor temporary supports or careless site work. “Earlier, before the 1990s, our standards were weaker, cement was rationed, and we didn’t have today’s modern equipment. Now we have ready-mix plants – back then, everything was mixed by machine in small batches.”

A bigger problem, he says, is poor inspection. “Departments like CPWD and PWD are supposed to check bridges before and after the monsoon, but these checks are often poorly done. We don’t use advanced tools to test what’s happening inside foundations or hidden parts…element-level inspection is key. Every part, from railing to foundation, must be assessed. In some collapses, like in Morbi, hidden cable corrosion inside ducts wasn't visible externally.”

Professor Suresh Bhalla, Professor (Higher Administrative Grade), Civil Engineering Department, IIT Delhi, and President, Indian Structural Health Monitoring Society (ISHMS), says, “Most bridges are just left to age without any sensors or real-time monitoring. Bridge authorities in India seldom deploy modern SHM technologies based on IoT sensors for real-time SHM to catch structural deterioration at early stages. The bridge authorities wake up very late when there are visible signs of damage. Once cognisant, they tend to apply bureaucratic ‘alibi’ by shooting out request letters to higher institutions like IITs for ‘structural audit’. However, without any measurement record and built design/drawings, such audits tend to be very subjective in nature, largely relying on visual inspections.”

He explains that “older bridges usually fail because of ageing, overloading, absence of periodic maintenance and neglect. However, if very new or under construction bridges fail, the most plausible reasons could be design or construction flaws.”

Bhalla says there’s some progress: the Bihar government has recently asked to test smart sensors on two bridges, Arwal-Sahar bridge and Ara-Chapra bridge – “these are one small step in the right direction”.  

Hitesh Vaidya, an infrastructure expert, says, “Sudden bridge collapses in India typically result from multiple, interconnected issues rather than a single cause. The immediate trigger – be it an overloaded vehicle or a severe weather event – often serves to expose deeper, systemic vulnerabilities within the infrastructure management framework. Policy must therefore focus on preventing the accumulation of these underlying vulnerabilities through robust oversight, consistent investment, and a culture of proactive infrastructure management, thereby reducing the likelihood of catastrophic incidents”. 

Bhalla says, “Most bridges need this kind of monitoring, but we’re still using outdated methods. For example, we rely on manual, visual inspections without proper data, and human judgment can easily be wrong. We have inspection schedules, but they are often not followed properly – or when they are, key issues still get missed owing to the subjective nature of human centric visual inspections. We are not embracing the new technologies that could prevent sudden collapses and can render our bridges safer.” 

‘No dedicated national authority’

Bridge inspection and safety practices in India lag significantly behind those of global leaders like Japan, Germany, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and China. 

In Japan, bridges need to be inspected every five years, with an initial inspection within two years of a bridge’s operation. Germany follows the DIN 1076 standard, implementing risk-based inspections with some bridges checked monthly or weekly, while the United States mandates inspections every two years under the National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS), allowing extensions only under strict risk assessments. Canada requires annual inspections with a maximum interval of 540 days, and the UK mandates general inspections every two years and principal inspections every six. 

The EU supports harmonised inspection practices through its Smart & Sustainable Mobility Strategy, allocating billions to tech-driven monitoring systems. China has gone a step further by mandating structural health monitoring (SHM) sensors in new highway bridges. These countries also prioritise transparency, like the US National Bridge Inventory and Canada's published audit schedules, while using advanced technologies such as AI-based monitoring, drones, and digital twin simulations to assess structural integrity. 

In contrast, India has no dedicated national authority for auditing bridge safety, experts say.

“For design, the Indian Road Congress exists, but not for safety auditing. During construction, the project management consultancy and third-party inspection need improvement, especially in urban areas,” Pandit says. “It’s like aging in humans. A bridge with a 50-year lifespan will naturally show distress. But life can be extended through proper maintenance – if the original construction was sound."

The states’ road and building departments are mandated to inspect bridges before and after the monsoon, Pandit says. “However, urban bridges sometimes fall under the ULB, or the roads and building department, or sometimes, the NHAI. Therefore, there is a lack of accountability.”

As per MoRTH data, in the case of collapsed completed bridges, action against corporators was taken in only three instances. In many others, the cause was attributed to “aging and overloading” or labelled a “natural calamity.” For under-construction bridges, action was taken against contractors in 13 cases.

Newslaundry reached out to Santosh Kumar Mall, Principal Secretary, Water Resources Department (Irrigation and Bridges), Bihar; Om Prakash, Chief Engineer (HQ) PWD, Uttarakhand; PR Patelia, Secretary, Gujarat Roads and Buildings Department; and Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road, Transport and Highways, for comment. This copy will be updated once they respond. 

Research assistance by Swastika Rajput. 

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