A few years ago, when a section of an under-construction flyover collapsed in Kolkata, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a statement, speaking from the podium at an event and addressing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee: "Didi, yeh act of God nahin, yeh act of fraud hai.”
Last week, a nineteenth-century bridge in Gujarat’s Morbi, which was reopened recently after intensive repairs, collapsed killing nearly 140 people at last count. As a search operation continues, the toll could only be higher. So far, nine persons have been detained and a case registered against some of those responsible for the incident.
If the 2016 Kolkata bridge collapse was “God's message to remove the state government in West Bengal”, according to PM Modi, I wonder what the BJP has to say now in defence of the Morbi incident.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has been reluctant to politicise the Morbi incident, and the Bharat Jodo yatris even observed two minutes of silence in honour of the victims.
Meanwhile, PM Modi is scheduled to visit Morbi today. People are asking why he did not visit Morbi earlier even though he has been in Gujarat for election campaigning.
While CM Bhupendra Rajnikant Patel has announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the families of each deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured, there are some questions that need answers after this tragic episode.
Who were the people purportedly seen damaging the bridge in a now viral video?
How did the bridge open without a certificate, without the municipality in the loop, as is being reported? Apparently, the accident site is a drone-restricted zone.
Incidentally, when the tragic incident happened, the Gujarat health minister was said to be celebrating his birthday.
Meanwhile, when TV channels should have been asking questions to the authorities holding them to task, some of them ran shows focussing on “Sanatan aastha ka Amrit Kaal” and “Badal gaya daur, ab sanatan par zor”.
Not surprisingly, the ruling BJP insists that it was residents of Gujarat who were responsible for the Morbi incident.
Who Should Be Held Accountable?
The Morbi incident is actually an expose on the corrupt nexus that exists between the state government and its corporate allies.
And it is not the first incident of negligence in construction. Apparently, the track connecting Vadodara to the Statue of Unity had collapsed within two years of being built. An alleged nexus with corporates was alleged after the 2019 Takshashila fire tragedy in Surat too, and also the Lattha hooch tragedy that claimed 148 lives in Ahmedabad in 2009.
Is this the stellar Gujarat model of development?
As the Morbi death toll increases, the owner of Ajanta Infrastructures Ltd, which was responsible for the renovation of the bridge, has reportedly gone into hiding. The maintenance of the bridge was awarded to a watch-making company. I wonder who are handling other such projects, and what is the state of those projects.
It has been reported that the pathway to the 100 years old bridge is full of patches. In fact, some of them are big enough to be seen through. Vloggers in the past have made specific notes that one should walk carefully to avoid getting hurt.
The two-way extremely narrow entrance pathway with ups and downs and stairs made the experience adventurous but left an open invite for a stampede-like situation. The width of the bridge was just 4.5 feet.
While the caretaker had put out a warning note for the visitors saying damaging the bridge in any way could attract legal action, videos by vloggers show how the “real fun” was in shaking the bridge and that’s the reason it’s called "jhulta pul". One vlogger can be seen explaining how the thick metal rope sustains the bridge, and that the actual fun of swaying the bridge is not at the starting point but somewhere midway.
Narrating the sordid details of the tragedy, a survivor claimed a group of 20-25 boys was shaking the bridge vehemently when cables broke and the bridge came crashing down with a loud noise.
As always, after any grave tragedy, the one question that comes to mind is who should be held accountable.
When the law of the land penalises a car driver for not wearing a seat belt, negligence like in the Morbi case cannot go unpunished.
From the caretaker who oversold the bridge by not putting a limit on the footfall at a time, to the local administration responsible for maintenance, to all the “keen kumars” who jeopardised the lives of hundreds for a few minutes of cheap thrill — all should be held accountable.
Lastly, we must neither forgive nor forget this gruesome incident. Lives have been lost, and in some cases, entire families have been wiped out. Monetary compensation will not bring back someone's parent or child. The public must hold the authorities responsible, it’s their job to protect lives.
Saira Shah Halim is an educator and rights activist.
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