Whether it is the collapse of bridges, large craters on the roads and highways during monsoon seasons, the degradation of infrastructure exposes the truth of "Corruption-Free India". While taxpayers' money is being wasted, nobody seems to be taking responsibility for the poor state of public infrastructure construction and maintenance. Was the dream of a corruption-free India only a political slogan?
Collapsing Bridges of India
- Morbi Suspension Bridge Collapse (Gujarat, 2022): 135 to 141 lives lost. A bridge constructed almost a century ago fell in the middle of the river. Overcrowding during holidays and sheer negligence in the repairs were the two major reasons for the bridge collapse.
- Vivekananda Road Flyover Collapse (Kolkata, 2016): 26 to 27 lives lost. A 100-meter-long portion of an ongoing flyover construction project suddenly fell on a busy road below. The cause behind the collapse was that constructors rushed their work and used poor-quality materials.
- Mizoram Railway Bridge Girder Failure (Sairang, 2023): 26 lives lost. A bridge girder used in construction suddenly gave away, leading to deaths. Workers at work were affected as the girder collapsed and they fell from a considerable height.
- Gambhira/Mahisagar River Bridge Collapse (Gujarat, 2025): 18 to 20 lives lost. This bridge between Anand and Vadodara districts collapsed due to heavy monsoon pressures on the bridge. It was one of the oldest bridges that were built for public usage.
- Varanasi Flyover Segment Collapse (Uttar Pradesh, 2018): 18 lives lost. A massive segment of a construction project fell on a road below killing people instantly.
- Darjeeling Wooden Footbridge Collapse (West Bengal, 2011): 32 lives lost.
- Vashishti Bridge (Mumbai-Goa highway): Small cracks and potholes on the newly built bridge measuring 21.8 km were another subject of great concern.
Now Question arises..........
Who is responsible for these accidents?
Who is responsible for these innocent lives?
What are the reason behind these tragedies?
What are the reason behind these tragedies?
This is where the public money flowing?
Should we name this as corruption? Well wait we have something named as Right To Information (RTI) Act, lets get deep into this........
The Right to Information Act, 2005
It aims to increase the transparency, expose corruption and
make government more accountable. The RTI Act gives citizens the statutory right of right to
access information, which may include records, documents, data material held in any electronic
form from the public authorities and it also includes information relating to any private
organization which can be accessed by a public authority.
There were positive aspects of the act but again some negative too that has been listed down.....
- Satish Shetty was an Indian social activist, noted for exposing many land scams in Maharashtra. Shetty had utilized the powers vested under the RTI Act to bring into light widespread land scams carried out by IRB Infrastructure along with its subsidiary firm, Aryan. In the year 2009, complaints were filed that fraudulent documentation was being done by these companies to procure large amounts of land in the villages of Taje and Pimploli, situated on the Pune-Mumbai highway. Subsequent to investigations, cancellation of sale deeds numbering 90 had been carried out. Additionally, sub-registrar Ashwini Kshirsagar had been suspended. The company attributed the irregularities to land brokers. The proposed IRB township plan was subsequently called off. As a result of this event, threats against Shetty began pouring in. A protection request was submitted by him in November 2009 to the police in Pune rural. Threats were made against him by an individual named Virendra Mhaiskar, who happened to be chairman of IRB Infrastructure Company. Protection was however denied to him. January 2010 saw Shetty attacked and stabbed by some individuals when he was out for his morning walk.
- Ranjeet Soni was a human rights defender and Right to Information (RTI) activist from Madhya Pradesh in central India. He consistently filed RTI applications seeking information regarding public works, including information on government expenditure, allocations at government hospitals, and details of road constructions, and subsequently filed complaints and sought redress from government officials for alleged corruptions and other irregularities. On 2 June 2022, Soni was shot dead at close range on a busy road in Vidisha town, just 100 metres from the local police station. Prior to his murder the defender had received threats to withdraw his RTI petitions. The day after his murder, 3 June 2022, he had been due to present evidence to a local court to support one of his complaints.
- Satyendra Dubey was a 31-year-old IIT Kanpur civil engineering graduate working with the National Highways Authority of India and assigned to the prime minister’s pet project, the Golden Quadrilateral, to connect the four corners of India. He was posted at Koderma, Jharkhand. On discovering rampant corruption and poor implementation of work in the section where he had been posted, Dubey wrote to the prime minister exposing the irregularities. In the letter, received by the prime minister’s office on November 11, 2002, he had named some companies. Fearing retribution, he had requested that his name be kept secret. But PMO officials circulated his letter along with details of his identity among the bureaucracy. While the file was making the rounds, not one official thought about the threat Dubey was being exposed to. Why officials in the PMO did not heed Dubey’s request for anonymity is not known. But just over a year later, on November 27, 2003, he was murdered in Gaya, Bihar.
Whistleblower Protection Act, 2014
The Whistleblowers Protection Act 2014 protects the interest of whistleblowers. It provides
mechanism to safeguard persons reporting corruption or abuse of power by a public authority.
Whistleblower is the person who exposes any person or organization involved in any illegal or
corrupt activity.
In 2004, in response to a petition filed after the murder of NHAI Official Satyendra, the Supreme Court of India directed the Central government that, ‘administrative machinery be put in place for acting on complaints from whistleblowers till a law is enacted.’
In 2011 Whistleblowers Protection Bill was proposed which finally became a law in 2014. Nevertheless, the Act has yet to be implemented. This is because the government insisted on some amendments being made in order to prevent any breach of national security. As such, the act has yet to be officially implemented.
Conclusion
Due to such death threats nobody will try to figure out the actual cause of any loss.
So what is the need of these acts and laws, what is the difference between the underworld maffias and political leaders? Some strict action should be taken against such people.
So what is the need of these acts and laws, what is the difference between the underworld maffias and political leaders? Some strict action should be taken against such people.
We can easily figure out that these leaders of leading parties give tenders to there special builders who easily use cheap materials and labor and further complete the project below the estimated cost, and the remaining amount is kept/looted by these so called leaders and builders. Also, no regular checkups and delayed investigation of existing infrastructure like bridges leads to the permanent damage of life and public money.
This dichotomy exists in India’s infrastructure where while there has been massive growth, there have been equally massive failures. As the country sees huge strides in highways, metro rail systems, and aviation, bridge collapses occur regularly highlighting major systemic issues that include poor construction and lack of accountability.
