Gujarat bridge collapse: A man-made tragedy

The collapse of the Morbi suspension bridge in Gujarat which has claimed over 130 lives is one of the worst tragedies in recent times. It has again exposed the poor maintenance and upkeep of public utility and infrastructure, the absence of crowd management practices, and governance failure at all levels, which are at the root of many such tragedies. The dead include many women and children, and more bodies are being fished out of water. The bridge collapse was not an accident but a man-made tragedy. A mutual blame game is on among various agencies and authorities over it but all of them who were involved with it are responsible, by omission or commission. Bridges or other structures of such vintage should be maintained as heritage assets and not put to active use. A modern bridge could have been built alongside, as is done in many places.

The bridge, nearly 150 years old, had been closed seven months ago for repairs and was reopened only a week ago. The private firm that undertook the repairs did not have the requisite expertise for it and is said to have been awarded the contract without a tender. The repaired bridge was not issued a fitness certificate by the municipality as no safety audit had been conducted. The capacity of the bridge was said to be only 100 but tickets were issued to many hundreds of people. The municipal authorities cannot escape the blame claiming that they were not informed of the reopening of the bridge. Why was the bridge reopened without inspection by the authorities? The reopening of the bridge without a safety check and certification was a prescription for disaster. The municipality should have been aware of the events that drew crowds and should have made policing and crowd control arrangements.

Crowd management poses a serious challenge to administrations all over the world as the death of 150 people in a stampede in Seoul last week showed. But the Morbi tragedy is not one of crowd management but of mismanagement in all respects. There should be a thorough enquiry into the incident and accountability should be fixed for the failures. Gujarat is in election mode and there is likely to be a temptation to hide the government and local administration’s lapses and failures. It is wrong to do so and to allow the guilty to escape. As if the injury was not enough, authorities added insult to the victims and their families by specially doing up the Morbi hospital for Prime Minister Modi’s visit there. The Morbi bridge collapse should serve as a lesson and a reminder for authorities in Gujarat and in other states to ensure that structures like bridges and dams are maintained well. Many of them are in poor shape.