Bridges to hell

As defaulting contractors remain scot-free, shabby bridges continue to pose a threat to life and property.

In Nepal, not a year passes by without news reports of a few bridges collapsing in one place or the other. It has remained a sort of an annual affair for decades now, with no substantial change in the way we deal with the menace. In May 2014, an under-construction bridge spanning 80 metres over the Trishuli River at Kabilas fell down . A motorable bridge over a stream at Dhankute Road in Dharan that connected Koshi Highway and the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences collapsed in September 2015. A bridge over the Baulaha River on the East-West Highway was destroyed after a truck crashed into it in December 2016. The list goes on and on.