Gujarat Morbi Bridge Collapse News Highlights: State-wide mourning in Gujarat today; bridge cable rusted, not repaired, police tell court (2024)

The previous night, in the Vajepar area of the town, the families of neighbours Asifbhai Makwana, 35, and Prabhubhai Ghogha, 55, got the compensation cheques. Three of Makwana’s family members, including his seven-year-old-son Arshad, and Ghogha’s 19-year old daughter Priyanka had died in the Morbi bridge collapse. Sohini Ghosh and Gopal B Kateshiya report

Deepak Parekh, one of the managers of theOreva company responsible for maintenanceof the bridge and among nine arrested in the wake of the incident, told the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate and Additional Senior Civil Judge M J Khan that “it was the will of God (Bhagwan ni ichcha) that such an unfortunate event happened”.

Sohini Ghosh reports

Advocate Vishal Tiwari who filed the plea was mentioned before a bench presided by Chief Justice UU Lalit.

Responding to a query from the bench, the petitioner said he was primarily seeking a probe by a retired judge into the matter. He added that there are similar old bridges and monuments in different parts of the country and sought directions to the state governments to form committees to survey and conduct a risk assessment of these structures. Read more

The Gujarat government started distributing Rs 4 lakh ex gratia among the next of kin of each of the victims in Morbi bridge collapse on Monday and officials said the process had been completed by Tuesday noon. “Kin of each of the 135 victims have been handed over cheques worth Rs 4 lakh each towards compensation. In all, we have handed over relief cumulatively worth Rs 5.40 crore,” H R Sanchla, the mamlatdar in charge of the control room, said.

The state government had announced Rs 4 lakh ex gratia to the next of kin on the day of the incident itself. The government had also announced Rs 50,000 ex-gratia compensation to those injured in the incident while providing them free medical treatment. The central government too announced Rs 2 lakh compensation to the next of kin of those killed and Rs 50,000 to each one injured in the incident.

Referring to the bridge collapse in Gujarat’s Morbi that killed 134 people, Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh on Monday claimed that the western state has suffered “the consequences of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s series of sins”, triggering a war of words between the state’s ruling party and the Opposition.

Reacting sharply to this, BJP state president Sukanta Majumder said, “A probe has been initiated into the bridge collapse. But a flyover fell like cards in Bengal’s Magherhat and there was a farce in the name of inquiry.” Read more

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said the Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat, which has claimed 135 lives so far, was a result of “massive corruption”.

"The Morbi bridge collapse was a result of massive corruption and I pray for the victims. Why was a watchmaking company which had no experience of bridge construction allowed to do so?" he said during a press conference.

"We are grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for staying with us in this hard time and guiding us to lead Gujarat out of this grief," Bhupendra Patel said at the Mangarh Memorial event in Rajasthan's Banswada, while speaking about the bridge collapse in Morbi.

"I offer condolences to those who have passed away in the tragic accident in Morbi two days ago. I pray for the souls of the departed persons to be granted rest. The Army, NRDF and Defence forces have lent a big helping hand in the rescue operations in Morbi," the CM added.

Rescue operations continued over the Machchhu river on Tuesday morning, for the third day, following the collapse of the suspension bridge in Gujarat's Morbi.

On Tuesday, authorities confirmed that as many as 135 people have died in the incident, so far.

Express Photos by Bhupendra Rana

A CCTV camera in Morbi, where a century-old cable suspension bridge collapsed on Sunday evening, has captured the moment when the tragedy struck.

The video shows a group of visitors standing on the bridge as it swings. A few were even seen holding onto the cables of the suspension bridge to balance themselves. Within moments, it collapsed and people fell in the Machchhu River.

The streets of Morbi that would be abuzz on any normal day wore a deserted look Monday as the town mourned the bridge collapse tragedy that claimed 134 lives on Sunday, even as the state-run GMERS Hospital where survivors were admitted was getting a makeover ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit on Tuesday.

On the first floor of GMERS Hospital, where survivors were admitted in what is otherwise labelled as “paediatric ward”, rusted beds and side-tables are being painted afresh, while walls and ceilings are being rid of cobwebs, and cracked tiles and flooring being repaired.

According to hospital staffers, the clean-up is being done ahead of PM Narendra Modi’s visit, scheduled for Tuesday. Read more

The Morbi administration’s “negligence” and “misgovernance” have been at the centre of debate since the bridge collapse that has left at least 134 people dead. Officials in the Gujarat municipality drew further attack as photos emerged on Monday night of the government-run GMERS Hospital, where most of the injured are admitted, getting a hasty makeover ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit on Tuesday.

Tweeting a video of workers painting the walls of the hospital, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the most vocal rival of the BJP in the coming Gujarat elections, tweeted: “141 people are dead, hundreds of people are missing, no action has been taken against the real culprits, but BJP workers are more concerned over photoshoots and cover-ups.”

The death toll in the incident rose to 135 on Tuesday, news agency Reuters reported.

“One person who was injured in the incident and admitted to the hospital succumbed to his injuries, taking the toll to 135,” GT Pandya, a senior administrative official in Morbi said.

A ticket to walk over the Jhulto Pool in Morbi, Gujarat

The broken cable ties of the suspension bridge in Morbi

A shoe remains at the Morbi bridge collapse site

The Morbi municipality had handed over sole responsibility of the maintaining the suspension bridge to the Oreva Group

(Express Photos by Nirmal Harindran)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed deep sadness over a tragic bridge collapse in Gujarat's Morbi city and expressed condolences to the families of the victims and injured.

“The Secretary-General is deeply saddened by the tragic news of the collapse of the Morbi bridge in Gujarat," a statement issued by Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, said on Monday.

Guterres expressed his condolences to the families of the victims, as well as the people and government of India, and wished a quick recovery to those injured, the statement said. (PTI)

Rescue operations resumed Tuesday over the Machchhu river where the Morbi bridge collapsed.

"It is suspected that some bodies may be there on the floor of the river, so we resumed the operation with the help of our deep divers," VVN Prasanna Kumar, NDRF Commandant, told ANI.

The bridge that collapsed in Gujarat’s Morbi on Sunday was a suspension bridge.

The basic structural components of a suspension bridge system include stiffening girders, two or more main suspension cables, and towers and anchorages for cables at either end of the bridge. The balancing of the bridge has to happen within the permissible weight restrictions for the bridge, given that the deck is hanging in air, supported by the two sets of cables. But this is subject to two preconditions: there must be no overloading, and no excessive swaying.

Even as an investigation into the accident is pending, the visuals and purported footage prior to the incident seem to suggest that both these preconditions were possibility tested. Here's what could have happened

On Sunday, the family of Pratap Singh Jadeja (30) —Pratap’s two children, his wife who was pregnant with their third child, his sister-in-law, Pratap’s brother Pradyuman’s wife and two children — had gone to the temple of goddess Meldi in Morbi. On their way back, the children insisted on going to the Jhoolto Pul, a century-old suspension bridge over the Machchhu river that had reopened only four days ago after being shut for repairs for aboutseven months.

Hours later, as the bridge heaving with people gave way, all seven members of the family plunged into the river, and died.

The Indian Express speaks to the family of the victims of the Morbi bridge collapse. Read here

In a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Gandhinagar Monday late evening, it was decided to observe state mourning for the victims of Morbi bridge collapse on November 2, an official statement said. The meeting was held at Raj Bhavan in the state capital.

On November 2, the national flag will be fly half-mast on all government buildings and no public meetings or entertainment programmes will be held. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel tweeted about the decision and appealed to the citizens to observe peace and pray for the departed souls.

With the police arresting two managers of the Oreva Group, under scrutiny is the agreement the Morbi Municipality signed with the company for the maintenance of the bridge that collapsed Sunday, killing at least 134 people. The company has been involved with the bridge since 2008.

As per the latest agreement signed by Ajanta Manufacturing Pvt Ltd, the flagship company of Oreva Group, the company, for a period of 15 years, was made solely responsible for themanagement of the bridge, including operations and maintenance (O&M), security, ticketing, cleaning and even staff deployment.

According to the agreement, reviewed by The Indian Express, only one aspect of the operations was in consultation with the Morbi District Collector and the municipality: the price of tickets. Know more here

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a three-day tour of election-bound Gujarat, will be visiting Morbi on Tuesday in the wake of the bridge collapse over Machchhu river, killing 134 people.

On Monday, PM Modi chaired a high-level meeting at the Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar to review the situation in Morbi.

However,Sunday’s bridge tragedy, leaving around 140 dead ahead of the Assembly poll announcement for the state, is expected to change the political equations in Morbi.

The Congress’s win in 2017 had come against the backdrop of the Patidar quota agitation. With its substantial Patidar population, Morbi had been one of the key centres of the agitation. The Congress winner then, Brijesh Merja, finished by just 3,419 votes ahead of the BJP’s five-time winner Kanti Amrutiya. Read more

Expressing grief, Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi, Chief Minister M K Stalin and AIADMK leader K Palaniswami on Monday conveyed their condolences to the kin of over 100 people who were killed in the Gujarat suspension bridge collapse.

In his condolence message, Ravi said he was grieved over the loss of invaluable lives. He prayed for the quick recovery of the injured people, the Tamil Nadu Raj Bhavan said on its Twitter handle.

Stalin said that he was deeply pained by the loss of so many innocent lives in the Morbi bridge collapse. "My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. While I wish for the speedy recovery of those who have sustained injuries, the remaining people trapped must be rescued safely at the earliest," the Chief Minister said on his Twitter handle.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has extended his condolences to the families of the people who lost their lives in a bridge collapse in Gujarat's Morbi city.

In a message to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi which was published on the Kremlin website on Monday, Putin said, “Dear Ms President, dear Mr Prime Minister, please accept my heartfelt condolences over the tragic bridge collapse in the state of Gujarat.” Putin also conveyed his words of sympathy and support to the families and friends of the victims, and wished all those injured a speedy recovery, state-owned TASS news agency reported. (PTI)

In wake of the bridge collapse in Gujarat's Morbi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has demanded a judicial inquiry into the accident to investigate its cause.

"Kharge expects the government of Gujarat to provide immediate medical treatment to the injured and to search for all those still missing, besides providing appropriate financial assistance to the families of the bereaved and injured. He also demanded a judicial inquiry to investigate the cause of this accident, which prima facie seems to be a case of criminal negligence and gross mis-governance. He also asserted that this is not the time for politicking, but the responsibility of this tragic accident must be fixed and the guilty must be brought to book, only then can such incidents be prevented in the future," the Congress party said in a statement on Monday.

Kharge also spoke to senior leaders of Gujarat Pradesh Congress and urged them to ensure that members of the Congress Party and frontal organisations help in rescue and relief work in every possible way, the statement added.

The Congress chief also expressed his deepest condolences to the families of those who died and prayed for the complete and quick recovery of all those injured.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is on a three-day tour to election-bound Gujarat will be visiting Morbi on Tuesday, November 1, in the wake of the bridge collapse over Machchhu river, which has led to the death of 133 people so far.

Speaking in Kevadia, Modi Monday said that he was pained by the tragedy in Morbi. “I express my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the tragedy. The Gujarat government is with them. The state government has been carrying out rescue operations with its full strength,” he said.

NDRF teams conducting search operations, Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel at the site taking stock of the situation — this was the scene at Morbi on Monday where a century-old cable suspension bridge collapsed on Sunday evening killing 133 people.

Listed as one of the attractions on the Gujarat Tourism website, the bridge, considered an “engineering marvel” was built to give a “unique identity to Morbi using the latest technology available in those days, in Europe”, the district collectorate website says. The bridge was 1.25 metre wide and had a span of 233 metres on the Machchhu River connecting Darbargadh Palace and Lakhdhirji Engineering College.

Following the collapse, citing gross negligence and mismanagement, officers at B-division Morbi city police station lodged a first information report (FIR). Read more

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Monday expressed grief over a bridge collapse in Gujarat's Morbi city and extended his condolences to the victims and their families.

In a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Wickremesinghe said he is "shocked and saddened" by the tragic bridge collapse incident in Morbi, according to a press release issued by the president's office.

"The government and people of Sri Lanka join me in extending deepest condolences to you, the government and people of India especially the families of the citizens who lost their lives. May the injured have a speedy recovery and wish every success in the rescue and recovery operations underway," the president said. (PTI)

The suspension bridge (popularly called the jhoolta pool) over the Machchhu river, which was closed seven months ago for repairs, was reopened on October 26 (Gujarati New Year Day) for tourists and people at large, without a fitness certificate from the Morbi municipality.

In March this year, Morbi-based Oreva Group (Ajanta Manufacturing Pvt Ltd), which also makes e-bikes, was awarded the contract to maintain and manage the bridge by the municipality.

The bridge was "opened to the public after the completion of the renovation work. But the local municipality had not yet issued any fitness certificate (after the renovation work),” Sandeepsinh Zala, Chief Officer, Morbi Municipality told The Indian Express. Read more