In view of recent mishaps, the Indian Railways has undertaken a massive, third-party audit exercise of critical bridges across the country to get an independent assessment of these crucial links in the rail network. A total of 4,835 bridges have been identified for the third-party audit that is to be carried out with the help of international consultants, according to a senior Railway Ministry official.

"The international consultants will be selected through an open tender process to carry out the third-party audit," he told IANS. There are a total of 147,523 bridges in the country's vast rail network - one of the largest in the world. Out of these, 700 are classified as "important bridges", 12,085 are described as "major" ones, and 134,738 are "minor" bridges.