After the girder of the Bagmati bridge, which connects Rautahat with Sarlahi along the East-West Highway, developed cracks, travelling through it has become risky.

According to the Road Division Office in Chandranigahapur, the girder on spur No 7 of the bridge has developed a crack of around 8 cm. Engineer Prakash Yadav at the road office said vehicular movement could be affected along the bridge due to the girder crack.

“There could be a huge risk if four or five heavy vehicles pass over the bridge at once,” Yadav said. “We wrote to the district traffic police office of Rautahat and Sarlahi to allow a single vehicle to pass at a time.”

The Bagmati bridge, which was built some 55 years ago, sustained damage a few days back. The Road Division Office in Chandranigahapur has informed the Bridge Branch in Kathmandu about the crack. A technical team of the branch made a field visit and inspected the bridge on Tuesday. It recommended the repair of the cracked girder.

Traffic police officers have been mobilised in the area to regulate vehicular movement along the bridge. According to Inspector Lokendra Adhikari of the District Traffic Police Office in Rautahat, traffic police personnel have been deployed in the area to allow one vehicle to pass the bridge at a time.

Local people express their concerns about the dilapidated bridge along the Pathlaiya-Dhalkebar road, a busy section of the East-West Highway. They say the authorities have been tardy in repairing or reconstructing dilapidated bridges.

“We repeatedly urged the Road Division Office about the poor condition of the Bagmati bridge,” Gopal Ghimire, a local of Chandrapur Municipality. “But they did not show any interest in its repair. Many bridges have become risky due to the government’s apathy.”

As many as 55 bridges along the Pathlaiya-Dhalkebar road need to be repaired at the earliest. Bakaiya bridge, Pasaha bridge, Dudhaura bridge, No. 1 bridge, No. 2 bridge, No. 3 bridge in Bara district; and Bagmati bridge, Chandi bridge, Lamaha bridge in Rautahat are in dilapidated conditions. Dudhaura bridge has caved in twice. A new bridge is under construction in the area.

Some bridges in Bara are at risk due to siltation. The Bagmati bridge sank by six inches and the Chandi bridge by four inches a year ago. Gauriparbati Himalayan JV Company had repaired the bridges then.

Other bridges along the highway have broken railings and potholes. The authorities have failed to bar vehicles that exceed the load capacity from the bridges.

The former Soviet Union had built the Bagmati bridge in 1969 while constructing a 109 km long road from Pathlaiya in Bara district to Dhalkebar in Dhanusha district along the East-West Highway. The road is nine kilometres wide while the bridges are five metres wide along the road section.

Around 5,000 vehicles run along the Pathlaiya-Dhalkebar road daily. Transport has been affected due to old and narrow bridges on the road stretch. “Narrow bridges cause traffic jams,” Adhikari said. “There could be major accidents as vehicles get caught in jams on the dilapidated bridges.”

Commuters and local people have to risk their lives while traversing the perilous bridges. They are also hit by traffic jams, mainly on the narrow bridges.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Lila Lamichhane, at Nepal Police Highway Safety and Traffic Management Office in Pathalaiya, informed of chronic traffic jams at Pasaha bridge, Bakaiya bridge, Lamaha bridge, Chandi bridge and Bagmati bridge. He underscores the need to build bridges along the section to ease traffic movement.

Lalijan Khanal, chief of Bridge Branch, said several bridges on the East-West highway are old. According to him, new bridges will be built while upgrading the highway. A project agreement has been signed to widen the highway to four lanes from the Bagmati river to Kamala river. As per the agreement, as many as 76 bridges will be constructed along the road section.