Gujarat Hardlook: A month on, how Vadodara bridge collapse has hit families, students, vendors & industries

Dilipsinh was among the four injured to be initially rescued. Another injured person, Narendra Parmar, had also succumbed to his injuries during treatment.

Along with grief, anger has also swept over the overwhelmed families as well as local residents, who have not only felt the pain of their neighbours in the villages but also suffered loss of livelihood or education in some ways.

Ashok Padhiyar from Bamangam says, “The families who have lost their loved ones are yet to come to terms. At the same time, the sudden loss of the population at large cannot be quantified. Many of us have lost our sources of livelihood and we are staring at a bleak future. Several students have dropped out of college as of now as the travel time is too much and similar courses are not available nearby… We do not know when the new bridge will be constructed to restore normalcy in our lives…”

Local sweet shops on the route are ready for the upcoming Raksha Bandhan, but the mood is sombre.

(From left) Mohan Chavda’s wife, Dilipsinh’s brother Ghanshyam, Hitesh Chavda and Atul Rathod’s brother Ketan (Express/Bhupendra Rana)

A store owner, who has stacked sweets, says, “Usually, rakhi celebrations would have meant visitors arriving days in advance. But the collapsed bridge has disrupted travel to this side… The number of motorists who would stop by and make purchases has drastically reduced. It is a loss we never imagined. The last month has seen the lowest business since the Covid19 pandemic… I do not know how I will make up for this in the near future?”

Another villager, who earned a living by selling vegetables in the bustling vegetable market in Padra — which is also known as the vegetable bowl of the region — says that travel to Padra via the bridge that was just about 10 minutes drive has now turned into an hour-long detour through the district, incurring additional transportation costs.

“For many farmers, selling fresh produce of vegetables, fruits and flowers from the district to the market in Padra and Vadodara now means additional expenditure on transport… This is a long-term problem with no solution in sight. The government has only just announced a new bridge. We do not know when it will be ready,” says the vendor.

Many residents of the 40 affected villages in Anand district, who used to commute to work in pharma and food manufacturing companies in Vadodara and Bharuch via the bridge, say they have been forced to quit jobs due to the 35-40 kilometer detour to get to work.

Stress and fear

Hitesh Chavda, son of one of the victims Mohan Chavda (52), says he has quit his job as a helper at a pharma company in Luna in Padra since the incident.

My brother was just 22. The bridge collapsed due to negligence on part of govt officials. People kept demanding repairs… They waited for people to die…

Ketan Rathod, brother of Atul Rathod

Chavda says, “My father travelled to work everyday. He earned a meagre salary which only helped us scrape through each month. We knew that we could not dream big due to our constraints but we never imagined that going to work itself would lead to his death… Being the only son of my parents, I now have the responsibility to look after my mother. At the moment, the detour that one needs to take to get to work will mean that my mother will continue to grieve alone. So I have quit my job for now.”

Another victim from Bamangam, Dilipsinh Padhiyar, who was travelling to work with Mohan Chavda on the fateful day, has left behind his young family.

His younger brother, Ghanshyam (23), said that the families are undergoing extreme “anxiety and traumatic stress” since the incident a month ago.

‘Need a dignified compensation’

Ashok Padhiyar, a villager who has been extending support to the families since the day of the incident, says that while the grieving families have received the government compensation, the amount is nothing close to what one would need to live a life of dignity.

Ashok says, “What does the government compensation of `4 to `6 lakhs in total mean in today’s times? Will Dilipsinh’s widow be able to ensure a good life for her daughter? Now-a-days, even a simple wedding in a village costs more than `4 lakhs. The families have lost their breadwinners and the compensation does not match the time we are living in.”

Ketan Rathod, brother of Atul Rathod (22) who was among the victims, says that the families are contemplating moving the court petition seeking a “more dignified” compensation.

Ketan says, “My brother was just 22. He had his whole life in front of him, which was snatched away when he was going to work as usual because someone did not do their job. The bridge collapsed due to negligence on part of the government officials. What is the purpose of initiating action after a tragedy? The local people have kept demanding repairs but nothing was done… They waited for people to die.”

Kiran Mori, General Manager, District Industries Centre (DIC), Vadodara, told this newspaper that the industries have been considerate and extended different concessions to their workers as it is a genuine problem and the need for workforce is high.

Mori said, “Padra has several chemical and food industries, where thousands of workers arrive every day… After speaking to the companies, as per their mutual convenience, they have decided to give some exceptions to emplyees from the affected areas. Some have given concessions in timing, allowing employees to report to work up to 30 minutes late. Some companies have asked the labour contractors to make travel arrangements. Companies who have their own buses have also changed routes for the employees or even started mini bus services. Some have also approved fuel allowance.”

Mori adds that the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) has started eight new bus routes from Padra to Bhadran, Jambusar and other areas.

Industries facing tough time

The direct effect of the disruption of connectivity of two districts has been seen on the industries located in Padra and Bharuch.

Despite initial efforts that meant brainstorming for several days to find a solution — relaxation in reporting time, to fuel allowances and also deploying private transport to bring workers to the industries in the region — most factory owners are “at a loss” as almost 80% of the workforce has given up their jobs, President of Padra Industries Association (PIA) Pravin Rabadia said.

Rabadia says that during the initial discussions with the district administrations of both Anand and Vadodara, including officials of the District Industries Centre, Labour department and the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC), several suggestions were discussed. However, a month later, the industries are grappling to meet their production deadlines with lost manpower.

Padra, which has two clusters of industries — Zone 1 and Zone 2 — has more than 10,000 workers employed in 160 factories. These include 69 chemical industries (comprising pharma manufacturers) as well as food industry, ceramics and other manufacturing units. Further ahead from Padra, pharma companies located towards Bharuch have also been a source of employment to about 41 villages of Anand district. Apart from these, casual workers arriving to facilitate odd jobs remain an unaccounted number.

Rabadia says, “The industries are suffering due to disruption of the route between Vadodara and Anand, which has directly resulted in loss of manpower. In our letter to the District Collector as well as the DIC on July 13, we had recommended some temporary solutions that need to be implemented at the earliest… The tragedy is painful and one cannot forget the loss of human lives. But, we need to see what we can do for the return of normalcy. We have recommended a temporary steel fabricated walk-way with a passage for at least two-wheelers at the point where the bridge has been ruptured in order to allow daily commuters to live their lives until a new bridge is constructed…”

Rabadia says that despite attempts made by industries to provide transportation facilities to its workers, the response from the employees has been poor.

For many farmers, selling fresh produce in the market in Padra and Vadodara now means additional expenditure on transport… This is a long-term problem with no solution in sight

A vegetable vendor

“Most of these workers belong to the farmer class and allied jobs. For them, travelling eight-hour work in a company can work only if the travel time is short. Earlier, they reached the companies in about 15 minutes and now it has become close to two hours. Workers with farm responsibilities will prefer to work for lower wages closer to their villages. When I arranged a private transport for 22 workers of my factory, only two turned up… I had to discontinue it and I am exploring ways to ensure that my work is not hampered,” Rabadia says.

Rabadia adds that the PIA handed over industry-wise, village-wise and person-wise list to the district administration following the bridge collapse and also helped in chalking out two routes from Anand to Padra and Bharuch to decide the number of special GSRTC buses that would be needed for transporting the workers to and from the factories.

“The special buses have not yet been pressed into service. Even when it starts, the increased travel time will continue to be a deterrent for the workers. The companies too need a solution. We will have to explore the option of hiring workers through private contractors, if a solution is not found…”

Tanker retrieved after 27 days

The Gambhira bridge collapse also posed a big challenge for the district administration to retrieve a chemical tanker that was stuck on the Anand end of the bridge.

It was after a meticulous planning for three days that 60 experts from the Marine Emergency Response Centre (MERC) of Vishwakarma, a marine salvage company from Porbandar, that the tanker was successfully retrieved remotely, using specialised pneumatic marine airbags, horizontal cantilevers and strand jacks on standby and multiple drone cameras to monitor the operations.

With the structure of the bridge compromised and the movement of heavy machinery restricted, MERC experts deployed marine technology to retrieve the vehicle. Speaking to The Indian Express, Ketan Gajjar of the MERC said: “The execution was done with a combination of lifting with the marine bags as well as pulling with the strand jacks.”

“The process of deployment of the marine pneumatic roller bags requires proper methodology and equipment to make the system work effectively and safely. Once the pneumatic bags were successfully deployed and we are convinced that the vehicle is in an upright position to be safely pulled out, the next step was carried out… The execution was done with a combination of lifting with the marine bags as well as pulling with the strand jacks.”

Anand District Collector Praveen Chaudhary, who oversaw the retrieval of the tanker, said, “The tanker was successfully retrieved and handed over to the owner using the expertise of the marine salvage company that offered services free of cost.”

‘New bridge will come near the existing one, no plan to repair it’

The collapse of the Mujpur-Gambhira bridge has meant that the daily commute of thousands of people across Vadodara and Anand districts has been disrupted, leading to loss of livelihood and even student dropouts. What are the immediate solutions?

As far as students are concerned, there is a flow of students from Vadodara to Anand as well as from Borsad and other parts to Vadodara. We gave them two options — we can shift them to nearby schools, even if the capacity is full; we requested additional teachers. The second option is additional bus services to meet their demand.

Anil Dhameliya, Vadodara District Collector

Most of the students have opted for being shifted to schools in Vadodara. They have been granted admission without any leaving certificates so they can study here until the connectivity is restored. It is difficult to provide alternative courses to students pursuing higher education. But eight bus routes have been added based on the requirements of the students to Padra, Vidyanagar and Anand. They have to travel about 35 kilometers more everyday. The real problem is the increased travel time of about 80 to 90 kilometers per day… It will be resolved once the new bridge is ready…

We also met industry unions and associations. During the course, we gave them multiple options that they can start their own travel and bus services. Many major companies have started their own services or they can aggregate services by hiring travel operators. Some of the companies have given relaxation of time. We listed more than 100 companies and more than 5,000 employees, who were accommodated in one way or the other. But, the travel time has certainly increased and there is no quick fix for this problem. We will have to wait for the completion of the monsoon.

Local villagers from both the districts are demanding that local boats be pressed into service to allow the villagers to cross the breadth of the Mahisagar and get to work on either side. Has the administration considered the request?

This is the time for monsoon and Mahisagar witnesses regular monsoon floods. There is Kadana dam on the upstream and they also release a huge cache of water during the season. So, pressing boats into service is not safe during the season but we can definitely consider it after the monsoon. It cannot be immediately started.

Where will the new bridge, approved by the state government, be constructed? Is there any plan to repair the existing structure?

There is no scope for repairing or upgrading the collapsed bridge. The new bridge will be a completely new structure. The new bridge will come in the vicinity of the existing bridge. The technical teams will decide how broken the structure will be pulled down.

How does the administration plan to extract the collapsed part of the bridge from the river, which has been a challenge?

There were attempts made to remove the slab by cutting it to size… Even the access road that was made to reach the site could not help heavy vehicles reach and pull it out. The technical teams that will eventually work on constructing the new bridge will look into removing the slab from the riverbed.