Morbi mishap: Hourly visitors on Atal Bridge limited to 3,000

Though Atal Bridge’s structure is “technically highly safe and strong”, the decision has been taken in light of the Morbi incident, it added. “…if hourly visitors exceed 3,000, visitors are requested to wait for a while and cooperate with the administration,” the note said.

As The Indian Express had reported in August, the Atal Bridge had run into controversy when SRFDCL chairman Keshav Varma had protested imposing an entry fee for the bridge saying the poor should not be charged for using a bridge. The bridge users are being charged a fee of Rs 30 per entry.

However, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation standing committee chairman Hitesh Barot had countered Varma saying “nothing should be given for free”.

Barot justified it by citing how over 50,000 residents visited the bridge on a single day. “I completely support this decision. This is to avoid any untoward incident and the time limit will avoid people from staying on the bridge throughout the day. Otherwise, how will you manage the crowd? Even the police have suggested this and other ways to check overcrowding on the bridge,” he had said.

The bridge is being patrolled by the Sabarmati police station. A police constable from Sabarmati police station had told this paper, “The ticket fee is more regulatory in nature. It has helped reduce the crowd rush and the ruckus caused by them as there was no regulation at the entry points. Now, it is easier to keep a check on any mishappening on the bridge. We have seen a crowd above a lakh that come the day after the inauguration. So, it’s important to have a fee for maintaining law and order at a given point of time”.