Bridge collapse in Gujarat’s Morbi kills 133: What we know so far

The bridge (popularly called the jhoolta pool) over the Machchhu river, which was closed seven months ago for repairs, was reopened on October 26 (Gujarati New Year Day) for tourists and people at large, without a fitness certificate from the Morbi municipality.

In March this year, Morbi-based Oreva Group (Ajanta Manufacturing Pvt Ltd), which also makes e-bikes, was awarded the contract to maintain and manage the bridge by the municipality. “The bridge is a property of the Morbi municipality, but we had handed it over to Oreva Group a few months ago for maintenance and operations for a duration of 15 years. However, the private firm threw the bridge open to visitors without notifying us and therefore, we couldn’t get a safety audit of the bridge conducted,” Sandeepsinh Zala, Chief Officer, Morbi Municipality, said.

“It was opened to the public after the completion of the renovation work. But the local municipality had not yet issued any fitness certificate (after the renovation work),” he told The Indian Express.

Listed as one of the attractions on the Gujarat Tourism website, the bridge, considered an “engineering marvel” was built to give a “unique identity to Morbi using the latest technology available in those days, in Europe”, the district collectorate website says. The bridge was 1.25 metre wide and had a span of 233 metres on the Machchhu River connecting Darbargadh Palace and Lakhdhirji Engineering College.

Following the collapse, citing gross negligence and mismanagement, officers at B-division Morbi city police station lodged a first information report (FIR).

The FIR has named “the agency responsible for maintaining the bridge” and the “management agency” as accused, without naming the company in-charge of maintenance and repair or specific individuals, under IPC sections 304 and 308 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), officers said. The FIR in its accused column also mentions “others as may be revealed during the course of the investigation”.

Speaking in Kevadia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday said that he was pained by the tragedy and that the government was doing all it could for the families hit by it. “I have immense pain in my heart and on the other hand, I have my path of duty to walk. I am in your midst because of duty but my mind is with the families of the victims. I express my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the tragedy. The Gujarat government is with them. The state government has been carrying out rescue operations with its full strength,” he said.

Rescue personnel retrieve the body of a person who died in the bridge collapse in Morbi. (Express Photo)

CM Bhupendra Patel announced ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh for the families of those killed and Rs 50,000 for the injured. He cancelled all his programmes and left for Morbi. “Direct monitoring of the situation and necessary coordination with the system will be achieved by reaching the site in person,” the CM tweeted.

The Prime Minister’s Office announced “an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF (Prime Minister National Relief Fund) for the next of kin of each of those who lost their lives in the mishap in Morbi. The injured would be given Rs. 50,000.”

President Droupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar also expressed grief over the bridge collapse.

Meanwhile, the Gujarat government appointed a five-member team of bureaucrats and police officers to probe the bridge collapse.

The bridge (popularly called the jhoolta pool) over the Machchhu river, which was closed seven months ago for repairs, was reopened on October 26. (Express Photo)

In a tweet, Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi said the members of the committee are: Sandeep Vasava, Secretary of Roads & Buildings; Rajkumar Beniwal, Commissioner, Municipalities Administration; Subhash Trivedi, IGP CID (Crime); K M Patel, Chief Engineer, and Dr Gopal Tank, head of department (Applied Mechanics), L D College of Engineering, Ahmedabad.

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, while expressing his condolences for the families of the victims, asked the party workers to extend all help possible. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, too, asked for the same.

“Deeply saddened by the tragedy that has struck us with the collapse of the suspension bridge in Morbi, Gujarat. I appeal to the @INCGujarat workers to extend every possible assistance in rescue work & helping the wounded. My condolences & prayers are with the bereaved families,” he wrote on Twitter.

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