FOr Sal, Sonben Ramesh Padia, 32, and parents of four girls, 32 -year -old Ramesh prayed for a son. His wish – in a country that still likes sons on daughters – two years ago came true when Sonal gave birth to a boy, Nitik. The couple was removed and decided that they go to Sitaram temple of Baghdana village in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat, so that they could be thanked to Saint Father Sitaram for responding to their prayers. They never arrived to do so by 9 July. That morning, both of them entered a car in a car with a nactic, his 4 -year -old daughter, Vedika and three relatives, and left Dariapur in Vadodara district.
A four-decade-old Mujpur-Gambira bridge was five kilometers from his house, which was repeatedly marked as structurally insecure by the residents of Vadodara.
A trembling Sonal recalled the moments that he took to the bridge and gave a part of it. “I was sitting on the back seat,” she says. “When we were on the bridge, the car suddenly fell down into the Mahisagar river. After hitting the water, I somehow managed to break the back windshield and get out. I stood on the drowning car and grabbed some cables and grabbed some cables swinging from the bridge. I grabbed them and shouted to help for about two hours.”
Sonal was a member of the only family to escape the incident. The tragedy, which the Gujarat government said, due to structural failure, 20 people lost their lives and four were injuredA person remains missing.
Sitting on the floor of a relative’s house, with a banded arm and a mature forehead and legs, Sonal says he shouted, “Bachao! Hit Dikro Dobi Gao, kill Gharwali Dobi (Save me! My son is drowned; My husband is drowned) ”.
Sonal is suffering from sorrow and is also worried. Since Ramesh was the only breadwinner of the family, she says that it would now be a way to provide her for her three remaining daughters and in -laws for aging. Pulling him Veil (Covering the head) On her head, she remembers how late help. “Till then there was nothing to give me back besides the dead bodies near the river,” she says.
Sonben Ramesh Padyar managed to save herself but lost her husband, son and daughter in the collapse of the bridge. , Photo Credit: Vijay Sonji
A collapse bridge
Vadodara District Collector, Anil Dhamelia says Rescue teams recovered 12 bodies and rescued five people The day of the tragedy. The next day, he retrieved six more bodies. On the third day, he recovered a body. One of the injured victims died during treatment.
The Mujpur-Gombira bridge acts as an important link between the central Gujarat and the Saurashtra region in the west. The construction of the bridge began in 1981, and was officially opened to the public in 1985. It is an 832-meter long bridge with 23 spans. (A period is a horizontal location between two supports of a structure.) Many passengers, especially heavy vehicles, prefer using this bridge, which helped them topass toll on the Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway. With the closure of the bridge after the incident, the only way to reach Saurashtra from Central Gujarat is now 50 km additional Vasad Town.
Dhamelia says the bridge fell around 7.40 am “The community was the first response. Police and ambulances reached within 10 minutes of the incident. The rescue teams reached the site by 8.20 pm,” they say. Officials say it took some more time to save the remaining people.
Editorial | Bridge to Bear: On the collapse of the bridge in Vadodara
In 2017, the opposition Congress and several residents of Vadodara flagged off concerns about the safety of the bridge. They say that they also called for banning heavy vehicles on the bridge. Harshad Singh Parmar, a member of the Zilla Panchayat, says, “Whenever a heavy vehicle passes, the bridge developed and shook the cracks.”
72 -year -old Sonal’s father -in -law, Ravibhai, says he begged the government to repair the “collapsing bridge”, but his requests were ignored. Ravibhai has lost not only his son and two grandchildren, but has also lost his two son-in-law and a distant relative in the tragedy.
“Ramesh was my only son. Natic was born after years,” Ravibhai says that he welcomes relatives, residents and local leaders who have come to give their condolences. “My wife was shocked to receive the news and collapsed. She had to be hospitalized. My whole family has gone and the government is responsible for the incident,” he says.
Dhamelia admits that the residents had repeatedly expressed concern about the deteriorating condition of the bridge with the local authorities. “While some repair works were done, the state government also proposed a new bridge after meeting the technical teams,” he says.
In response to the initial findings of negligence, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel suspended four officers from the roads and buildings (R&B) department. Patel, who holds the portfolio of the R&B department, said, “Action has been taken wherever the laps have been found. The government will not hesitate to take further measures.”
State Health Minister Rushikesh Patel, who is also a government spokesperson, said that a high-level investigation was being done by the R&B department. The minister said, “According to the initial conclusions of the committee, ‘crushing the pedestal and articulation’ collapsed,” the minister said, offered without any more clarification. He said that a detailed report will be presented to the Chief Minister within 30 days.
A view of the bridge after the tragedy. , Photo Credit: Vijay Sonji
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bhupendra Patel announced the earlier Gratia of 2 lakh and ₹ 4 lakh for the families of the deceased, and ₹ 50,000 for each injured person.
On July 13, the Chief Minister approved Crore 212 crore for the construction of a new two-lane bridge over the Mahisagar river, which will run parallel to the collapsed structure. He says that the project will be completed in 18 months.
Ignore
On the third day after the incident, the national disaster response force personnel continue to conduct rescue operations with calm determination. Some of them uproot the waist-deepening in water, others carry stretcher, and some boards carry inflatable boats to continue the discovery of the missing. The authorities oversee operations from a tent on the banks of the river.
When one of the teams brings back the body, Parmar pointed to him and says, “It could be stopped if the bridge was closed for vehicles years ago. The so -called progressive Gujarat, in Gujarat, takes them more than three days to conduct rescue operations.”
Social activist Lakhan Darbar, founder of a group named Yuva Sena in Vadodara, says the issue of security first drew attention in August 2022. Parmar, who is also a member of a youth army, presented a written complaint to the officials of the R&B department about the condition of the bridge and represented the District Collector.
“There was no response to Parmar’s complaint and representation,” he says. “So I took it with a department officer. They accepted the risks, but did not take any action.”
The court also shares an audio recording of his conversation with the R&B department official. In the clip, the court is heard saying that the department should either repair or re -build the bridge, which is given the dangers given to the passengers. He said, “People’s lives are in danger, but no action has been taken yet. We will sit on a fast if steps will not be taken,” he said that it is heard saying.
The officer is heard responding that a survey by a private advisor also flagged off concerns. He admits that the bridge cannot last long. “Even we believe that the bridge cannot survive for a long time … How can we just close the bridge? We have informed our superiors. A proposal has been sent to re -create or strengthen the structure. Our design team will inspect it,” says the official.
Where light has gone out
Bamangam is located on one side of the bridge. There are no street lights here. Villagers use torches and mobile phones at night to navigate their own way.
A daily wage worker, Jayantbhai Rathod, sits outside his house almost in the total darkness. His 21 -year -old son Atul lost his life in the collapse of the bridge. Two other people of the village, Mohan Chavada and Dilip Padiar also died in the incident. Rathod says that the three were traveling together on a motorcycle on a motorcycle on a motorcycle.
He says that Atul joined a pharmaceutical company after a month’s internship six days before the incident. Rathod says, “My three children studied at night using lantern. Atul studied very hard and we were thrilled when he got the job. I was relieved that he would share family responsibilities. But God took them away,” calls them, “Rathod.
About 200 meters from Rathod’s house, Mohan Chavada is the house on the banks of a village pond. It is closed. When the hospital handed over Mohan’s body to his family, he took it to his brother’s house, which was safe and easy to reach.
His wife Sitaben says, “We married our daughter in February and had to repay the loan of 1.75 lakhs. Mohan was planning to withdraw the share of his future funds to clean the loan and was worried about it.”
Falling bridge
Opposition parties in Gujarat have united in condemnation of the BJP government. Former Chief Minister Shankarsinh Wagela launched a scary attack against the government, claiming that the tragedy “is the BJP’s 30 -year wrong way”. Congress leaders demanded Amit Shavada and Manish Doshi a high-level judicial inquiry, and Supriya Shrinet said that “hollow ‘Gujarat model” is another name for corruption. The Aam Aadmi Party’s Isudan Gadhvi called it “a man-made disaster”.
The Trinumool Congress also criticized the government, remembering that a British-era bridge in Morbi, Gujarat fell three years ago, killing at least 135 people. The party questioned the infrastructure of the state and called for accountability. “Is it a very long” Gujarat model that continues for PM @narendramodi champion! Will it be rejected as the ‘Act’ of God or you will finally accept what it is: a task of fraud! ” Its post on X said.
Since 2021 in Gujarat, at least six bridges have collapsed. Morbi incident took place in 2022In June 2023, a newly constructed bridge collapsed on the Mindhola River in Tapi district; There were no casualties. In September that year, four people were injured when a part of an old bridge over the Bhogvo river in Surendranagar district gave way to the 40 -ton dumper after trying to cross it. In August 2024, a small bridge over the Bhogvo River, connecting Habiyasar village to the Chowkila city of Surendranagar, fell due to sudden water discharge from an overflow dam. No fatal was told.
Minister Patel said that out of the 7,000 bridges of the state, from which the survey has been conducted, the government has identified those who need repair or need to be rebuilt, Minister Patel said.
Since the incident, the government has closed five bridges – two in Morbi district and three in Surendranagar district – on Narmada Canal Network. Authorities have also banned heavy vehicle movement on four bridges and listed 36 others for immediate repair. After the collapse, Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited, which oversees the canal system, operated the technical assessment of more than 2,110 bridges located in national highways, state highways and rural roads.
Parmar is unaffected. He asked, “He has decided to build a new bridge only after losing all these lives. He has repeatedly ignored the requests from the local people to examine these bridges. Will this government respond to the concerns of the people only after the death,” they ask.
deshpande.abhinay@thehindu.co.in
