A BRIDGE OF DESPAIR
The 143-year-old bridge over the river Machchhu was under repair and renovation for more than six months until it was reopened to the public only four days before the disaster. What lies behind the collapse of the bridge that was once considered an engineering marvel?
security guards Oreva had hired. They were charged with culpable homicide (not amounting to murder). One of Jaysukh’s close associates in Oreva, when produced in court on November 2, said the incident was an “act of god”. Significantly, nobody from the municipality that signed the contract with Oreva has been arrested.
Then there is the matter of Oreva’s promoters and top brass, none of whom has been named in the FIR. Former Gujarat CM Shankersinh Vaghela raised this in a letter to the Chief Justice of Gujarat. “The FIR does not name the owner of the Oreva Group and nobody from the top management has been arrested or investigated, while poor people like guards and other employees were made scapegoats. Therefore, there is a pressing need for an independent and unbiased investigation,” the letter states.
Oreva is a leading business house in Morbi and has significant political clout. Many suspect that Jaysukh’s exclusion from the FIR has something to do with his family ties with Parshottam Rupala, a BJP member of the Rajya Sabha who was a minister in Gujarat when Narendra Modi was the CM. Jaysukh’s niece is married into Rupala’s family.
Oreva had subcontracted the renovation and maintenance work of the 143-year-old suspension bridge to a Dhrangadhra-based company, Devprakash Solutions. There is ambiguity about the exact scope of repairs for which the bridge was initially meant to be shut for 8-12 months, but was reopened after seven months. Initial investigation by local police points to the fact that additional material was added to the deck of the bridge, increasing its weight substantially, causing it to give way during the enormous holiday crush on October 30. Without an independent safety audit by experts, the police said, this could not have been flagged.
Police officers also told a local court on November 2 that the cables—the most vital parts of a suspension bridge—were rusted and needed replacement. Yet the rusty cables were merely painted over, and probably broke under the excess weight. The weight on such a bridge needed to be kept within limits. The tickets, which were sold for Rs 17 each, had the Oreva logo but no serial number, making it difficult to monitor the number of people on the bridge. Clearly, there was abdication of responsibility here too.
Some disquiet is also brewing about the five-member investigation committee appointed to look into the causes of the accident. “All the members are government servants and unlikely to give a report critical of the government. Besides, they are not subject experts,” says a former minister who was part of Modi’s cabinet when he was CM.
“The district collector had refused to allow the opening of the bridge, but it was done after a phone call from (state capital) Gandhinagar,” AAP national joint secretary Isudan Gadhvi said. Both the Congress and AAP have been very active on social media, highlighting alleged deficiencies in the state administration. BJP leaders say the tragedy won’t affect their party’s prospects in the polls. Emphasising that the BJP is politically “very strong in the area”, party spokesperson Yamal Vyas says, “We don’t anticipate a lasting impact. It was a very painful incident, and our government has carried out the most outstanding rescue efforts. The first survivor was in hospital in 18 minutes.” A former MLA, however, concedes that there could be collateral damage. “We are keeping our ear to the ground to understand the tragedy’s impact on mass psychology,” he says.
While the saffron side hopes that the Morbi incident will cease to be a significant issue a month later when the state goes to election, the Congress and AAP will leave no stone unturned to ensure it stays in the minds of the electorate. ■
WHILE THE BJP IS HOPING THE ISSUE WILL CEASE TO BE SIGNIFICANT BY THE TIME THE POLLS COME AROUND,
AAP AND CONGRESS INTEND TO ENSURE IT REMAINS UPPERMOST IN THE ELECTORATE’S MIND