Lapses galore as Morbi counts the cost

The suspension bridge in Gujarat’s Morbi went through extensive renovations and was reopened mere five days before it snapped, plunging a crowd of weekend visitors into the river Machchhu on Sunday evening, leaving behind two crucial questions: was it crowded beyond capacity and if so, why were so many people allowed, and what role did the renovations play?

The lapses are now part of an investigation and police have detained nine people, including managers, ticket booking clerks, contractors and security personnel. The death toll was 134 at last count.

“People were just entering the bridge and nobody was stopped them. We even warned some people that the bridge will fall but nobody was willing to listen to us,” said Pankaj Kumar, a carpenter working at the nearby Swami Narayan Temple.

According to the head of Morbi municipal authority, Sandipsinh Zala, people have to buy tickets to enter the bridge, with adults being charged ₹17 and children ₹12 per entry. “The ticketing system is there to prevent overcrowding on the bridge,” he said.

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The protocol is that people enter from the Morbi side of the bridge and walk straight across.

Zala said it will now be investigated why people were not stopped and how people were allowed to amass on the bridge.

“Whenever security personnel see people standing on the bridge and there is rush, ticket issuing is stopped,” said a person who identified himself only as Suleman. That did not happen on Sunday.

On Sunday, Zala said that the bridge was opened without the civic body being informed and the officials were not sure if the bridge had a fitness certificate, raising another question: how was the bridge allowed to stay open for public for five days before the tragedy without being acted on by local authorities.

“There were videos of crowd over the bridge on Saturday also. Despite that, there was no regulation of the people’s entry to the bridge. There was only one person at the ticketing counter. Nobody would have thought the bridge will collapse four days after opening,” said Milind Parda, who lost his uncle and three relatives. Parda said the bridge is the only tourist attraction in the town and many had gone there over the weekend.

But the second key question for locals was on the quality of the repair-work. Morbi collector Raj Kumar Beniwal said a high level five-member committee set up by the Gujarat government will investigate the lapses, if any, in repair work. Experts from Gandhinagar Forensic Lab took samples of the material used for repair on Monday evening to determine the quality of material used for repair. They are expected to submit a report to the five-member committee in the next few days, an official said.

There was an unusual rush at Machchhu river in Gujarat’s Morbi district as it was the first public holiday after the bridge opened for public on October 26 and migrant workers from UP and Bihar were celebrating Chhath Puja, locals said.

The entry to 233-metres-long bridge, which was opened for public on October 26 by Jaysukh Patel, managing director of Oreva Group, which renovated the bridge.

About 6.15 pm on Sunday, there were close to 400 to 450 people on the bridge. “Some of them were standing and few youngsters were jumping and making the bridge swing. The bridge was swinging and making lot of noise,” said a construction worker, Ajay Kumar, 32, from Varanasi.

Another local, who did not give his name, said at about 6.40pm, the iron cables on which the bridge was suspended caved in from the middle. “People fell over each other and some of them got thrown into the river. Some who were on the sides of the 4.5-meter-wide bridge saved themselves by holding onto the cabling,” he said.

Locals said there was chaos as the lighting system on the bridge failed too.

“We were sitting near our homes and my friend was telling me that the bridge looks overcrowded. Suddenly we heard screams for help and we ran to the bridge,” said Pankaj Kumar, 24, who works as a carpenter at the local BAPS Swaminarayan temple. There were many people hanging (onto the cables), many struggling in the river, their screams piercing the night that seemed like forever, he said.

“We were able to rescue 30-35 persons hanging from the bridge,” he said. “The police and other rescue workers came about half an hour after the incident. Three children under eight years of age died despite our best efforts to save them,” he said.

Suleman added that as the news of the tragedy spread, some local fishermen came with their boats and rescued some people. “Some of us entered the water and pulled out people who had kept themselves afloat. We took them to local hospitals,” he said.

Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi said at about 7.30 pm on Sunday a team of expert divers of state disaster relief force and Gujarat police reached the accident site and started the rescue operations. However, operations had to be halted as there was not enough light. Rescue resumed at about 8.15 p.m. when local Morbi authorities set up flood lights at the accident site, locals said.

By about 9 pm, nearly 60 dead bodies had been brought to the Morbi district hospital. “The number was increasing by every hour,” said Gujarat inspector general of police Ashok Yadav. Teams of National Disaster Relief Force, Indian Army and Navy also started conducting rescue and search operations at about 2 am.

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By Monday morning, Sanghavi announced that the death toll has increased to 132 and a few more persons were missing. “We are searching for the missing persons. Our deep divers are looking for bodies in the river,” he said.

By evening two more bodies were found, taking the toll to 134.

The minister also said that criminal case has been filed against Oreva Group, which carried out the renovation. The bridge was opened for public by Oreva Group MD Jaysukh Patel, who was not available for comment.