Why in the News?

Recently, a span of a 40-year-old bridge collapsed in Vadodara, Gujarat, on July 9, sending multiple vehicles into the Mahisagar river and resulting in the death of 18 people.

What causes recurring public infrastructure failures in India?

• Ageing and outdated infrastructure: Many structures like the Morbi suspension bridge (2022) in Gujarat had exceeded their intended lifespan, yet continued to be in use without adequate upgrades.
• Overuse and overload beyond design capacity: Bridges and roads originally designed for lower traffic volumes now face high urban and industrial load, as seen in the Indrayani pedestrian bridge collapse in Pune (2024) due to overloading.
• Neglect and poor maintenance: Lack of routine inspections and maintenance led to incidents like the Vadodara bridge collapse (2024), where locals had raised concerns that were ignored by authorities.
• Institutional inefficiency and under-resourcing: Municipal and local bodies often remain understaffed and underfunded, unable to monitor and maintain growing infrastructure needs, especially in peri-urban areas.
• Lack of accountability and transparency: Even after fatal accidents like the Mizoram railway bridge girder collapse (2023), failure analysis reports are rarely made public, limiting systemic learning and corrective action.

Why is peri-urban infrastructure more prone to collapse?

• Unregulated and informal urban expansion: Peri-urban areas often develop without proper zoning laws, building codes, or infrastructure planning. This results in substandard construction, making infrastructure vulnerable to collapse. In many Indian outskirts, flyovers and water systems are built around unplanned colonies, lacking load assessment.
• Jurisdictional ambiguity and poor coordination: Peri-urban regions often fall between urban and rural governance structures, leading to confusion in responsibility for maintenance and oversight. In Delhi NCR’s fringes, conflicts between municipal bodies and panchayats delay repair and auditing of key infrastructure.
• Low visibility and weak political prioritization: These areas lack media attention and political pressure seen in core urban centres, resulting in deferred maintenance. In Hyderabad’s outer zones, repeated complaints about weakening culverts were ignored until seasonal floodingcaused failure.

How can AMRUT and UIDF improve asset upkeep?

• Focused maintenance and retrofitting: AMRUT 2.0 prioritizes the retrofitting of old urban infrastructure such as pipelines, water supply, and sewerage systems. Eg: In cities like Agra and Pune, AMRUT funding has helped upgrade outdated drainage systems to prevent floodingand infrastructure degradation.
• Targeted financial support for smaller cities: UIDF provides low-cost loans to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities that often lack budgetary resources for upkeep. Eg: In peri-urban areas of Madhya Pradesh, UIDF enabled the repair of worn-out roads and bridges strained by rapid population growth.
• Promotion of digital monitoring and audits: Both schemes encourage the use of geo-tagging and digital tracking tools to monitor asset health and schedule timely repairs. Eg: Cities like Bhubaneswar and Surat use AMRUT-linked dashboards to track infrastructure health and flag issues before failures occur.

What gaps delay audits and accountability post-collapse?

• Jurisdictional overlap between agencies: Multiple departments—urban development, public works, and local bodies—often share responsibility for infrastructure. This leads to confusion over which authority must initiate audits after a collapse. Eg: After a flyover collapse in Hyderabad, delays occurred as both the GHMC and state PWD passed the responsibility to each other.
• Political interference and blame-shifting: In high-profile accidents, inquiries are sometimes delayed or diluted due to political pressures or attempts to shield influential contractors. Eg: In the Kolkata Vivekananda flyover collapse (2016), early accusations were politicized, stalling a clear and prompt audit process.

Way forward: 

• Establish a unified statutory audit authority: Create a dedicated, independent body responsible for conducting post-collapse audits across all public infrastructure, ensuring timely investigations, clear jurisdiction, and mandatory public disclosure of findings.
• Implement real-time digital monitoring systems: Use GIS mapping, IoT sensors, and AI-based predictive maintenance tools to track structural health and alert authorities proactively, minimizing risks and improving accountability.

Mains PYQ:

[UPSC 2014] Explain how Private Public Partnership arrangements, in long gestation infrastructure projects, can transfer unsustainable liabilities to the future. What arrangements need to be put in place to ensure that successive generations’capacities are not compromised?

Linkage: The article highlights several incidents of catastrophic public infrastructure failures in India, such as a 40-year-old bridge collapse in Vadodara, a pedestrian bridge collapse in Pune, and a metro pillar collapse in Bengaluru. This PYQ is highly relevant as it directly addresses the critical themes of long-term infrastructure management, potential liabilities, and ensuring future capacity.

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