Morbi Bridge Collapse Tragedy: Technical Committee of Experts will Fix Responsibility: Gujarat Government

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Oct 31: With the death toll in the bridge collapse in Morbi going up to 143 and is still counting with many reported “missing,” the BJP government in Gujarat has adopted the safest method to avoid any uncomfortable questioning from the media and the people, leaving all the “answers” to the future as and when a “technical committee of experts” appointed for the purpose submit its report.

By the time its report comes, it could be months, or may be even years, when the people would even forget the occurrence of the grim tragedy and its import lost. The government authorities and the private company responsible for the repairing of the 150 year old cable bridge and re-opening to the public only on October 26, the Gujarati New year Day, would be out of focus and no one need to be accounted for the tragedy.

The minister of state for home Harsh Sanghavi, who was on the spot overseeing rescue operations in the Machchhu river, avoided all questions from the probing media on who ordered the re-opening of the bridge without a fitness certificate after repairing and how tickets were issued to over 400 people at a time to travel on the footbridge when its capacity of holding was confirmed to be 100 to 150 people. Mr Sanghavi’s stock reply was that the government has appointed a “technical committee of experts” which would fix all the responsibilities about the brim tragedy.

No care was also reportedly taken to the complaints of some people violently shaking the hanging old bridge scaring the people aboard with the municipal authorities replying that they did not have enough manpower to keep a check on such issues and it has got to be left to the civic sense of the people travelling on the bridge.

At least 143 people, mostly women and children, have died after a British-era bridge in Gujarat’s Morbi, about 80 kilometres from Rajkot, collapsed last evening. Some 177 people have been saved and teams are searching for several others who are still missing. More than 100 people were admitted in the hospital with serious injuries and some of them were reported to be still “critical.” The tragedy occurred when most of the people on the bridge performing the religious ritual of “Chhath puja” offering prayers to the descending sun.

Around 400 people were said to be on the suspension bridge when the cables supporting it snapped, sending people crashing into the river below. People fell on top of each other after the bridge snapped. Videos showed many desperately clinging to the remains of the bridge while some were seen swimming to safety.

The bridge had been shut for seven months for repairs the contract for which was given to the local Oreva Group company. The municipal authorities claimed that the company decided to re-open the bridge without waiting for the inspection by the municipal authorities and issuance of fitness certificate, local municipal body’s chief Sandipsinh Zala said. But the authorities were mum on the question who authorised the private company to reopen a public property without permission from municipality which was responsible for its maintenance.

Harsh Sanghavi said a criminal case has been registered and a five-member high-powered committee is probing the bridge collapse. “A case has been registered under charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and intentional act causing death against whoever is found responsible,” he said.

Five teams of National Disaster Response Force or NDRF worked through the night to find the missing. The Army, Navy and Air Force also joined the operation later. The state government has announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the family members of each of those who died in the accident and ₹ 50,000 for the injured. The Prime Minister also announced a financial assistance of ₹ 2 lakh each to the families of the victims.

The British-era bridge had reopened for the public just four days back after remaining shut for renovation work for seven months. Some wye-witness who had visited the bridge just hours before the tragedy said there were a huge crowd on the bridge. “We were on the bridge when some youths started shaking it intentionally. It was impossible for people to stand without holding any support. Since I had a feeling that it may prove dangerous, my family and I came back after covering some distance on the bridge,” an eye-witness said.

“Before leaving the spot, I alerted the on-duty staff to stop people from shaking the bridge. However, they were only interested in selling tickets and told us that there is no system to control the crowd. Hours after we left, our fears turned true as the bridge eventually collapsed,” he said. Several children at the site told reporters that their family members or parents went missing after the bridge collapsed. But all had one point in common to say, “there were huge crowd on the bridge much more than its holding capacity.”

“There was a huge crowd when the bridge suddenly collapsed. I survived because I caught hold of a hanging rope and slowly climbed up. But my father and mother are still missing,” a 10-year-old boy told reporters. Another eye-witness said, “The bridge suddenly caved in when we were on it. All the people fell down. Many people have died while many have received injuries. The bridge collapsed mainly because it was overcrowded.” A local resident said, “There were nearly 300 people on the bridge, which was opened a few days back for the public. Majority of the victims were children, as they came here to enjoy their Diwali vacation. Locals rushed to the spot immediately after the mishap, and pulled out many people alive.”

Another resident said the incident opened the wounds of the Machchhu dam tragedy of 1979, when thousands of local residents died due to flooding. “All the residents living nearby came for the rescue and saved many. This is the first major incident for Morbi after the dam breach incident of 1979. This bridge collapsed due to overcrowding. Rescue was hampered because of low light in the evening,” he said.

The prime minister Narendra Modi, currently on Gujarat visit, stated that rescue operations were underway and there would be no laxity in rescue and relief efforts. The union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday expressed his grief over the loss of lives. ”Several people lost their lives in yesterday’s incident in Gujarat. First of all, I express condolences to the families of all those who died in the unfortunate incident. May all those who died, rest in peace,” said Mr. Shah.

The Congress on Monday demanded a probe headed by a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge into the Morbi suspension bridge collapse. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the reasons for the collapse of the bridge that reopened five days ago, ought to be known. “Why were so many people allowed. There should be an inquiry headed by a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge,” Mr. Kharge said.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has cancelled all his programmes, including the scheduled roadshow in Haryana’s Adampur, for the upcoming bypoll in the assembly seat, in the wake of the collapse of the bridge in Gujarat’s Morbi.  “Very sad news is coming from Gujarat. Many people are reported to have fallen into the river due to the collapse of the bridge in Morbi. I pray to God for their life and health,” Kejriwal tweeted.  The BJP cancelled a Modi’s roadshow while the Gujarat Congress’ State-wide ‘yatra’ was postponed for a day. Now the yatra from five routes will be kicked off from Tuesday. A high-level Congress delegation will be visiting the tragedy site on Monday, a party spokesman said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other leaders and workers of the party taking part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Shadnagar in Telangana, observed a two-minute silence in memory of those killed in the bridge tragedy.

According to latest report, Rajkot BJP MP Mohan Kundariya’s 12 relatives were among the victims of the bridge collapse tragedy.