Vadodara: Fifteen people have died after a portion of the four-decade-old bridge in Gujarat collapsed on Wednesday morning. It has emerged that the incident at Gambhira Bridge was a result of neglect from civic authorities despite several warning signs and appeals by local leaders.
The Gambhira Bridge, built in 1986, had been "unfit" for three years, according to a report.
According to the Times of India, a member of the Vadodara district panchayat had written to the roads and buildings (R&B) department highlighting the poor condition of the bridge. Harshadsinh Parmar, who is from Mujpur village, urged the authorities to immediately declare the bridge unfit for use and close it to vehicles to prevent an accident and start the process of building a new bridge immediately. Parmar had written multiple letters flagging the concerns to the R&B department, Times of India reported.
After his letters, the Vadodara district collectorate reportedly sent a missive to the executive engineer of the R&B department to "do the needful that same month".
Parmar sent several reminders to the R&B department and district collectorate after the Morbi bridge collapse on October 30, 2022, which killed 135.
"As there were vibrations in the pillars of the bridge, I repeatedly demanded that the report on the condition of the bridge be made public. All we were told was that the matter was under consideration. The authorities knew well that the bridge would collapse, but unfortunately, no action was taken," he was quoted as saying by TOI.
Gambira Bridge Testing Report Was Negative, It Was Never Made Public
It may be noted that the executive engineer of the R&B department, while briefing mediapersons after the Gambhira bridge collapse, had said that the department did not find any major fault in the bridge. "There was an issue with its bearings, which was attended to last year," he told mediapersons.
However, his version was challenged by an RTI activist, who claimed that the executive engineer had in 2022 confessed that the bridge was unfit for use.
"This bridge was not safe. The testing report was negative, but despite our demands, the report was never made public. For three years, they allowed the bridge to function, knowing very well that it was unsafe. Today, it turned into a 'death-bridge' and we are demanding that the strictest action be taken against the officials concerned," he said, according to the Times of India.
"This bridge was 40 years old and required reconstruction...This incident happened only because of the government's negligence," said Congress leader Amit Chavda.
A state government spokesman, meanwhile, has claimed that Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel was awaiting a report from the R&B department and private experts who visited the site after the tragedy."The bridge collapse was discussed at the cabinet meeting. CM Bhupendra Patel sought an explanation from officials of the roads and buildings department on the issue. A team of experts from the R&B department and private experts visited the site. The report of these experts is awaited. Once the report is available, the government will be able to fix responsibility for the tragedy," the official said as per the Times of India report.
The official claimed that the Chief Minister had sanctioned Rs 212 crore for rebuilding the bridge, and the project is at the tendering stage.