Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Bridge too far: On the bridge collapse in Vadodara

Bridge too far: On the bridge collapse in Vadodara

A regular audit (निरीक्षण, लेखा जांच) of all major infrastructure (बुनियादी ढांचा) projects is a must (अनिवार्यता)

On July 9, 2025, a span (अवधि, काल) of a 40-year-old bridge in Vadodara in Gujarat caved in, sending half-a-dozen vehicles into the Mahisagar river below. On Thursday (July 10, 2025), 18 people were confirmed dead. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has ordered an investigation into the cause (कारण, वजह), which locals have alleged (आरोप लगाना) to be the long-standing (दीर्घकालिक, लंबे समय से) neglect (उपेक्षा, लापरवाही) by local authorities (अधिकारी, प्राधिकारी). On June 15, 2025, an iron pedestrian bridge over the Indrayani river in Pune district collapsed due to (के कारण, की वजह से) overloading, leaving four dead. In May, a concrete slab being hoisted (उठाना, फहराना) by a crane at the site of the construction of a bridge over the Kathajodi river in Cuttack fell on workers below, killing three. Similarly, in 2024, the Ghatkopar hoarding (billboard; large board for advertisements) collapse in Mumbai resulted in (का कारण बनना) 17 fatalities (मृत्यु, जनहानि). And in 2023, there were more accidents — a girder (a beam used in construction) failure at an under-construction railway bridge in Mizoram left 26 workers dead; a rooftop billboard collapse killed two women in Lucknow; and a pillar collapse at a metro construction site in Bengaluru killed a mother and her toddler (a young child). In 2022, the Morbi suspension bridge over the Machchhu river, again in Gujarat, failed, killing more than 140 people. These are only some of the hundreds of incidents involving the catastrophic (विनाशकारी, प्रलयंकारी) failure of public infrastructure. They are accompanied (साथ देना, साथ चलना) by road accidents and deadly (fatal, life-threatening, dangerous, destructive) fires in crowded areas, both of which regularly claim (cause/result in the loss of; take a life) many lives.

Even if they are isolated (individual, unrelated, random), they are not entirely accidental: they are symptoms of India’s ageing (relating to the process of becoming worn out/old) infrastructure that is being tested, especially in peri-urban (also called urban space (blend of rural and urban), outskirts; relating to an area immediately next to a city) areas, as industrial growth and urban populations expand. Facilities (place, premises, centre, amenity) such as bridges, roads and hospitals that were designed for some number of users, are progressively (increasingly, gradually, little by little, slowly) giving way under the weight of more. So also are the departments responsible for their upkeep (the activity of keeping or maintaining something (a building or place) in good condition; maintenance, preservation, conservation), many of which remain underfunded, understaffed or complacent (careless, casual, unconcerned, indifferent, slack, lax, apathetic, uninterested; self-satisfied, smug, pleased with oneself, proud of oneself, self-approving, self-admiring, self-regarding). While the authorities have ordered investigations into these incidents, few have yielded (provide, produce, bring in, furnish, contribute) failure analysis reports into the public domain. Some also prompted (cause, bring about, bring on, produce, call forth, give rise to) audits but they were restricted to infrastructure of the same type. Given (considering, taking into account, bearing in mind) the evident ubiquity (omnipresence; the state of being everywhere) of the problem, India must modify asset-creating initiatives such as the Urban Infrastructure Development Fund (It aims to supplement efforts of the State Governments/UTs for urban infrastructure development work implemented through Public/State Agencies, Municipal Corporations, Urban Local Bodies in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities by providing a stable and predictable source of financing. This fund will be managed by National Housing Bank and has been operationalised with an initial corpus of Rs.10,000 crore) to have additional priorities and adjust the incentives (impetus, boost, stimulus, fillip) of rehabilitative (restorative, reconstructive) schemes such as the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation to help regularly maintain ageing urban assets in all centres, with greater frequency (regularity, repetition) in those peopled (populate) by 10 lakh or more. Second, while baseline (a starting point (used for comparisons)) audit frameworks (system, structure) for municipal bridges exist, they must be enforced (fore, compel, insist on, demand) more uniformly and transparently (directly/clearly, straightforwardly, undoubtedly, precisely). Finally, until then, accidents must trigger (arouse; prompt; induce; cause; bring about) a probe by a statutory (legitimate, legal, rightful, lawful) body plus a mandatory (necessary, compulsory, required, obligatory) audit of all major infrastructure, and States must endeavour (try, attempt, aim, try hard, do one’s best) to publish the findings (conclusion, result, decision) at the earliest.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.audit (noun)

Hindi Meaning - निरीक्षण, लेखा जांच
English Meaning - examination; inspection; review; verification; scrutiny.

2.infrastructure (noun)

Hindi Meaning - बुनियादी ढांचा
English Meaning - the basic physical or organisational structure or framework that a country or organization needs in order to function properly. For a whole nation, it includes all the physical systems such as buildings, roads & railways networks, utilities, etc.

3.must (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अनिवार्यता
English Meaning - requirement, necessary/mandatory thing, requisite.

4.span (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अवधि, काल
English Meaning - period, time, duration, interval.

5.cause (noun)

Hindi Meaning - कारण, वजह
English Meaning - reason, grounds, motive, basis.

6.allege (verb)

Hindi Meaning - आरोप लगाना
English Meaning - claim, state, contend, indicate, accuse.

7.long-standing (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - दीर्घकालिक, लंबे समय से
English Meaning - enduring, lasting, persistent, prevailing, perennial, long-term, permanent.

8.neglect (noun)

Hindi Meaning - उपेक्षा, लापरवाही
English Meaning - indifference, negligence, heedlessness, inattention, lack of attention; inactivity, inaction, passivity, apathy, disregard.

9.authorities (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अधिकारी, प्राधिकारी
English Meaning - officials, officialdom, the people in charge, the bureaucracy.

10.due to (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - के कारण, की वजह से
English Meaning - because of, owing to, on account of, as a result of.

11.hoist (verb)

Hindi Meaning - उठाना, फहराना
English Meaning - raise up, lift up, pull up, elevate.

12.result in (verb)

Hindi Meaning - का कारण बनना
English Meaning - cause, bring on, bring about, lead to, produce, or give rise to.

13.fatality (noun)

Hindi Meaning - मृत्यु, जनहानि
English Meaning - victim, casualty, loss, mortality.

14.catastrophic (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - विनाशकारी, प्रलयंकारी
English Meaning - disastrous, fatal, tragic, terrible, awful, woeful, devastating, destructive.

15.accompany (verb)

Hindi Meaning - साथ देना, साथ चलना
English Meaning - occur with, be connected with, be linked with, be associated with.

16.toddler (noun)

English Meaning - a young child.

17.a bridge to far (phrase)

English Meaning - an ambitious plan or action that overreaches its capabilities and is likely to fail due to its scale or complexity; something that is too difficult/extreme to achieve; an overambitious plan which is destined to fail.

18.cave in (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - collapse, crumble, give way, fall in, fall to pieces, disintegrate.

19.hoarding (noun)

English Meaning - billboard; large board for advertisements.

20.girder (noun)

English Meaning - a beam used in construction.

21.deadly (adjective)

English Meaning - fatal, life-threatening, dangerous, destructive.

22.claim (verb)

English Meaning - cause/result in the loss of; take a life.

23.isolated (adjective)

English Meaning - individual, unrelated, random.

24.ageing (adjective)

English Meaning - relating to the process of becoming worn out/old.

25.peri-urban (adjective)

English Meaning - also called urban space (blend of rural and urban), outskirts; relating to an area immediately next to a city.

26.facility (noun)

English Meaning - place, premises, centre, amenity.

27.progressively (adverb)

English Meaning - increasingly, gradually, little by little, slowly.

28.give way (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - collapse, crumble, cave in, fall in, fall to pieces, disintegrate.

29.upkeep (noun)

English Meaning - the activity of keeping or maintaining something (a building or place) in good condition; maintenance, preservation, conservation.

30.complacent (adjective)

English Meaning - careless, casual, unconcerned, indifferent, slack, lax, apathetic, uninterested; self-satisfied, smug, pleased with oneself, proud of oneself, self-approving, self-admiring, self-regarding.

31.yield (verb)

English Meaning - provide, produce, bring in, furnish, contribute.

32.in the public domain/realm (phrase)

English Meaning - if something (e.g. information) is in the public domain, people generally know about it since it is no secret.

33.prompt (verb)

English Meaning - cause, bring about, bring on, produce, call forth, give rise to.

34.given (preposition)

English Meaning - considering, taking into account, bearing in mind.

35.ubiquity (noun)

English Meaning - omnipresence; the state of being everywhere.

36.Urban Infrastructure Development Fund (UIDF) (noun)

English Meaning - It aims to supplement efforts of the State Governments/UTs for urban infrastructure development work implemented through Public/State Agencies, Municipal Corporations, Urban Local Bodies in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities by providing a stable and predictable source of financing. This fund will be managed by National Housing Bank and has been operationalised with an initial corpus of Rs.10,000 crore.

37.incentive (noun)

English Meaning - impetus, boost, stimulus, fillip.

38.rehabilitative (adjective)

English Meaning - restorative, reconstructive.

39.Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) (noun)

English Meaning - The Government of India has launched it in June 2015 with the mission to provide basic services (e.g. water supply, sewerage, urban transport) to households and build amenities in cities which will improve the quality of life for all, especially the poor and the disadvantaged.

40.frequency (noun)

English Meaning - regularity, repetition.

41.people (verb)

English Meaning - populate.

42.baseline (noun as modifier)

English Meaning - a starting point (used for comparisons).

43.framework (noun)

English Meaning - system, structure.

44.enforce (verb)

English Meaning - fore, compel, insist on, demand.

45.transparently (adverb)

English Meaning - directly/clearly, straightforwardly, undoubtedly, precisely.

46.trigger (verb)

English Meaning - arouse; prompt; induce; cause; bring about.

47.statutory (adjective)

English Meaning - legitimate, legal, rightful, lawful.

48.statutory body (noun)

English Meaning - an institution that is established by an act of Parliament or state legislatures, deriving its authority from legislation instead of the constitution.

49.mandatory (adjective)

English Meaning - necessary, compulsory, required, obligatory.

50.endeavour (verb)

English Meaning - try, attempt, aim, try hard, do one’s best.

51.finding (noun)

English Meaning - conclusion, result, decision.