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Journalism of Courage
The Congress Friday launched a 14-day Gujarat Nyay Yatra, a march from Morbi to Gandhinagar, seeking justice for 240 victims of four major accidents, including the Jhulto Pul bridge collapse and TRP Game Zone fire, that the state saw over the past five years.
Kicking off the march, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee working president Jignesh Mevani alleged that collusion between corrupt BJP leaders and officers lead to these accidents in the state. “Due to negligence resulting out of collusion among corrupt leadership of the BJP and its chosen officers, 240 people were killed in (various accidents in) Morbi, Rajkot, Vadodara, Surat, Bharuch and Ahmedabad,” Mevani said addressing a ‘Kranti Sabha’ or meeting for revolution in Morbi to kickstart the march.
Apart from the Morbi and Rajkot tragedies, the march seeks justice for the victims of the Takshashila complex fire in Surat in 2019 and the Harni boat tragedy in Vadodara in January this year. “We are taking out this Nyay Yatra because people do not trust ongoing investigations. Victims of Morbi bridge collapse demand that the probe be conducted by the CBI, or some non-corrupt officers. We will get justice the day all the real culprits, be it IAS, IPS officers, businessmen or BJP leaders, are behind bars,” said Mevani who is the working president of Gujarat Congress.
“We demand that all the cases be tried in fast-track courts. The kin of the victims must get a minimum compensation of Rs 1.5 crore because the compensation of Rs 4 lakh is too meagre. The Morbi Nagarpalika office-bearers should be booked for murder,” Mevani added.
On July 6, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, during his Ahmedabad visit, had met the family members of some of the victims, promising to raise their grievances in Parliament.
Friday’s Kranti Sabha was also attended by All Indian Congress Committee (AICC) secretary and Gujarat incharge BM Sandeep, Gujarat Legislature Party leader Amit Chavda, Congress Seva Dal national president Lalji Desa, MLAs and leaders of the party. The yatra will cover nearly 350 kilometres through Rajkot, Surendranagar and Ahmedabad districts before culminating in Gandhinagar on August 23, the party said.
At the same time, a group of family members of TRP fire victims assembled at Race Course in Rajkot announcing that they would not like to side with any political party but want justice.
Twenty-two students died when a fire broke out on the illegally constructed top floor of the Takshashila commercial complex in Surat city on May 24, 2019. As many as 135 persons died after a British-era suspension bridge over the Machchhu river in Morbi town collapsed on October 30, 2022. The bridge was maintained by Oreva Group. The company’s CMD Jaysukh Patel was granted bail in March this year.
In January this year, 12 school students and two teachers died when a boat capsized in Motnath lake in Vadodara city. The partners of Kotia Projects, to which the municipal corporation had awarded the contract to maintain and operate the lakefront project, were subsequently arrested.
As many as 27 persons including four children were killed in a massive fire at a game zone in Rajkot city on May 25.=
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