A day after the Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat, the police arrested nine persons, including the managers of private contractor Oreva Group and ticket clerks and security guards.
The authorities’ mismanagement, crowd-induced vibrations or end of the ‘service life’ are reasons being probed to find out exactly what led to the collapse of a 145-year-old suspension bridge built during British rule on the Machchhu river in Gujarat’s Morbi, killing 141 people.
The bridge, connecting the Darbargadh Palace heritage hotel and Morbi town, was closed for seven months for repairs and it was reopened to the public on October 26 — the Gujarati New Year.
It is alleged that the company which carried out the repair work opened it without getting a fitness certificate. However, the government has taken full responsibility for the tragic incident.
The firm had claimed on October 26 that it had roped in experts for the repair work, adding that the material used was built as per specifications by “specialised firms”.
Morbi municipality had agreed the company can collect Rs 15 from adults and Rs 10 from children below the age of 12 as entry tickets for the first year, with a Rs 2 hike every subsequent year, as per the agreement.
After the renovated bridge was inaugurated on October 26, Oreva Group’s Jaysukh Patel informed the media that his group had spent Rs 2 crore on the renovation.
When Rahul Gandhi was asked about the incident on his Bharat Jodo Yatra he said “I don’t want to politicise this incident. People have lost lives, and it would be disrespectful for them to do it. I don’t want to do politics on it.”
However, other Congress leaders have unabashedly slammed the BJP, a party in power in Gujarat, over the Morbi Bridge collapse incident.
Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala termed the incident a man-made tragedy and called the BJP government in Gujarat guilty of the incident.
“This is not a natural accident, it is a man-made tragedy. The BJP government of Gujarat is directly guilty of this heinous crime,” Surjewala wrote in a tweet.
Surjewala also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel over the compensation announced for the deceased kin.
“PM and CM cannot evade their responsibility by announcing rupee 2 lakh compensation for the lives of Gujarati brothers and sisters,” the Congress MP added in the tweet.
So who’s really at mistake here?
Surjitt Sahani
