Opinion Questions on Morbi bridge collapse must be answered – for the sake of ensuring accountability and for drawing lessons for the future

On Sunday evening, a suspension bridge, more than a century old, collapsed in Morbi in Gujarat, causing the death of at least 134 people. Built over the Machchhu river, the bridge, which was popularly called “jhoolta pul” (swinging bridge), had been thrown open just four days ago. According to reports, the bridge had been closed for repairs for seven months and was reopened for tourists and people at large on October 26 to mark the Gujarati New Year day. The reaction by the authorities so far has been predictable. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel announced that the state would give Rs 4 lakh to the families of those killed and Rs 50,000 to those who have been injured. The office of the Prime Minister — Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat before becoming PM — has announced an additional relief of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister National Relief Fund for the next of kin of each of those who lost their lives and an additional Rs 50,000 to the injured.

Providing relief is just the starting point. The bigger concern should be to understand why the bridge collapsed just four days after it was reopened. This is important for the sake of ensuring accountability and also for drawing lessons for the future. Initial reports have thrown up several worrying bits of information. For instance, the bridge was reportedly opened without procuring a fitness certificate from the Morbi municipality. Then, the task of renovating the old bridge was given to the Morbi-based Oreva Group, which is better known for manufacturing small household items such as the Ajanta wall clock. The officials in Morbi Municipality have tried to shift the entire blame on to the company, claiming that “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”, but they cannot escape the questions either.

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Is there a laid out process and procedure to renovate old bridges in Gujarat? If so, was it followed in the decision to choose the Oreva Group for the job? How could a private firm throw open a bridge on its own? The fact is that the bridge was open for three days before the collapse. Surely that was enough time for the local administration to act and shut down the bridge. Or was it the case that the local administration was willfully turning a blind eye? Are there other such projects in Gujarat that need urgent attention? The Gujarat government has appointed a five-member committee of bureaucrats and police officers to probe the matter, but given the gravity of the mishap, and the high likelihood that local officials were complicit in the negligence that led to it, there should be an independent inquiry in the matter.