{"id":77264,"date":"2026-06-17T18:46:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T13:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=77264"},"modified":"2026-06-17T18:47:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T13:17:23","slug":"iconic-bridges-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/17-06-2026\/iconic-bridges-india","title":{"rendered":"Iconic Bridges And India&#8217;s Infrastructure Transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/ Infrastructure<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>MoRTH released a compendium of India&#8217;s iconic bridge projects in June 2026, highlighting how bridge infrastructure has transformed connectivity, regional development, and strategic access across India over the past decade.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Status of India&#8217;s Bridge Infrastructure: Status<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India&#8217;s road network now extends beyond 63 lakh kilometres, placing it among the largest globally.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Budget 2026-27 allocates Rs. 1,21,999 crore to roads and bridges<\/strong> under MoRTH, a 5% increase over the revised estimate for 2025-26, reflecting sustained capital commitment to road infrastructure.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehansindia.com\/amp\/news\/national\/india-begins-critical-minerals-journey-to-strengthen-supply-chain-resilience-1003986\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Multiple major bridges are under construction as part of <strong>PM GatiShakti connectivity nodes<\/strong>, including a 4 km bridge over the Brahmaputra at Jogighopa, a 29 km bridge over the Kosi River, and a 14 km bridge parallel to JP Setu on the Ganga.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vifindia.org\/print\/13361\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-dominant-color=\"bcc8d1\" data-has-transparency=\"true\" style=\"--dominant-color: #bcc8d1;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"904\" height=\"544\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-128.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"has-transparency wp-image-77265\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-128.png 904w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-128-300x181.png 300w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-128-768x462.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 904px) 100vw, 904px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Significance: Why Bridges Matter?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Economic multiplier:<\/strong> Bridges are not merely transport structures, they are economic multipliers.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Narmada Bridge on NH-8 accelerates freight movement on India&#8217;s busiest goods corridor, the Aunta-Simaria Bridge opens North Bihar&#8217;s agricultural surplus to southern markets.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strategic and defence value:<\/strong> The Dhola-Sadiya Bridge carries strategic significance in addition to its civilian utility, enabling rapid troop and equipment movement to the Arunachal Pradesh border.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Regional integration:<\/strong> Bridges in the Northeast directly address the connectivity deficit that has historically limited economic development and contributed to insurgency and outmigration.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Environmental engineering:<\/strong> The Chambal Bridge&#8217;s pier-free 300-metre suspended span demonstrates that infrastructure development and ecological sensitivity are compatible.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Inclusive connectivity:<\/strong> PMGSY bridges connect rural households to health centres, schools, and markets, directly enabling outcomes on human development indicators that GDP data alone cannot capture.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Challenges in Bridge Infrastructure<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Maintenance deficit:<\/strong> India has over 1.5 lakh bridges on national highways, many built in the colonial era or 1960s-70s.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Execution delays:<\/strong> Many infrastructure\u2019s got delayed due to delay in land acquisition, forest clearances, utility shifting, and contractor capacity constraints.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.prokerala.com\/news\/articles\/a1671798.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Geological and terrain challenges:<\/strong> Bridge projects in the Northeast, Himalayas, and coastal zones face exceptional engineering difficulty including seismic vulnerability, flash floods, high-altitude working conditions, and short construction seasons.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Forest and environmental clearances:<\/strong> Projects crossing wildlife corridors and eco-sensitive zones require extended multi-level clearances; the Chambal Bridge&#8217;s design innovation was as much a regulatory response as an engineering choice.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Urban bridges neglected:<\/strong> There is no overarching scheme for urban roads and bridges comparable to PMGSY for rural areas, leaving city-level bridge infrastructure under-funded and poorly maintained despite higher traffic loads.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.prokerala.com\/news\/articles\/a1671798.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>National Bridge Asset Management System:<\/strong> Scale up MoRTH&#8217;s real-time sensor pilot to all bridges on national highways, creating a continuous structural health monitoring network that enables predictive maintenance before catastrophic failure.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Prioritise missing links in Northeast:<\/strong> Fast-track bridges on Frontier Highway (NH-913) along the Indo-Tibet-Myanmar border to arrest border population outmigration and improve LAC access under a dedicated NHIDCL pipeline.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Integrate bridges into PM GatiShakti:<\/strong> Ensure every major bridge project is mapped to GatiShakti economic nodes, industrial corridors, and logistics parks so that bridge investments generate identifiable economic returns, not just connectivity benefits.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Urban bridge policy:<\/strong> Launch a dedicated Urban Bridge Renewal Mission under AMRUT 2.0, mandating audit and structural renewal of all bridges above 30 years old in cities with populations above 10 lakh.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: PIB<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong><br \/>\nIn News<\/p>\n<p><\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">\n<p>MoRTH released a compendium of India&#8217;s iconic bridge projects in June 2026, highlighting how bridge infrastructure has transformed connectivity, regional development, and strategic access across India over the past decade.\n<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/p>\n<p>Status of India&#8217;s Bridge Infrastructure: Status<\/p>\n<p><\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"\t>\n<p>India&#8217;s road network now extends beyond 63 lakh kilometres, placing it among the largest globally.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">\n<p>Budget 2026-27 allocates Rs. 1,21,999 crore to roads and bridges under MoRTH, a 5% increase over the revised estimate for 2025-26, reflecting sustained capital commitment to road infrastructure.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs-hindi\/17-06-2026\/iconic-bridges-india \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77264"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77268,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77264\/revisions\/77268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}