The collapse of a 40-year-old bridge in Vadodara on July 2025, killing 18 people, has spotlighted India's recurring public infrastructure failures, underscoring critical issues of ageing assets, poor maintenance, and lack of transparent audits.

Nature and Pattern of Failures

• Series of Fatal Incidents:Multiple infrastructure failures have occurred across India, including the 2022 Morbi bridge collapse (140 deaths), 2023 Mizoram railway bridge girder failure (26 deaths), and the 2025 Vadodara bridge collapse (18 deaths), highlighting systemic safety lapses.
• Aging Infrastructure Under Stress:Many urban bridges and public facilities, designed decades ago, are now overwhelmed by increasing population pressures and vehicular loads, especially in peri-urban and industrial zones.
• Institutional Gaps in Oversight:Departments responsible for maintenance remain underfunded, understaffed, or complacent, with a lack of public-domain failure analysis reports despite repeated disasters.

Deficiencies in Policy and Monitoring

• Inadequate Public Disclosure:While investigations are often ordered post-incident, the absence of mandatory and timely publication of audit and failure analysis reports has eroded public accountability.
• Limited Audit Scope:Audit responses, when triggered, are usually narrow and restricted to the specific infrastructure type involved, ignoring systemic risks in similar structures.
• Weak Implementation of Existing Frameworks:Despite baseline audit frameworks for municipal bridges, enforcement across states remains inconsistent, with no centralized monitoring or periodic review.

The Way Forward

• Reform Urban Infrastructure Schemes:Schemes like the Urban Infrastructure Development Fund (UIDF) and AMRUT must prioritize maintenance and rehabilitation of ageing infrastructure, especially in cities with over 10 lakh population.
• Mandatory Statutory Probes:Every major infrastructure failure should trigger an investigation by a statutory technical body along with a comprehensive audit of related assets in the region.
• Transparency and Public Engagement:States must institutionalize public disclosure mechanisms for infrastructure audits and investigation reports to enhance civic trust and participatory governance.

Practice Question:

1. "India’s urban infrastructure is facing a systemic crisis due to ageing assets and inadequate maintenance mechanisms." Critically examine this statement in light of recent infrastructure failures. Suggest a roadmap for improving the structural resilience of urban public assets.(250 words)