Lost lifeline: how Patna's Mahatma Gandhi Setu fell into disrepair

Until not long ago, the Mahatma Gandhi Setu was the only link connecting Patna to north Bihar. When it was opened by Indira Gandhi in 1982, it was touted as Asia's longest road bridge. Now, it's a monument to ruin and state neglect.

While the main structure of the bridge is largely intact, save for a crumbled span near pillar 46, it is no longer as sturdy as it was. In fact, repair work has hardly ever ceased over the past 15 years or so. As a result, several patients have died before reaching hospital, weddings have been delayed, students have missed their exams.

Yet, despite the seemingly incessant "maintenance", the bridge is only ever deteriorating. And that's quite sad for this 5.5-km long, two-lane bridge once brought the capital closer to hundreds of villages across over a dozen districts of north Bihar. Before it was built, the people from this region could only reach Patna by boat - two government-run steamers would ferry passengers every morning and evening. If you missed the steamer, you had no choice but to put off your visit to Patna, no matter how urgent. So, villagers would often spend the night at the riverside, cook sattu for dinner and wait for the steamer to arrive in the morning.