INDIA. Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Morbi Civil Hospital in Gujarat on Tuesday to inquire about the health of the injured admitted to the hospital following a bridge collapse tragedy on Sunday and also visited the site of the mishap.
The death toll from the Morbi bridge incident reached 134, including 34 children, it was revealed that the deceased included 12 members of the family of BJP MP Mohan Kundaria. 17 persons have been admitted to the hospital and two persons have been reported missing.
PM Narendra Modi visited the Morbi Civil Hospital
Bhupendra Patel, the chief minister of Gujarat, accompanied Modi as he visited with the relatives of those who perished in the bridge collapse incident. The Prime minister also visited the accident site where the search and rescue operation is still underway in Machchhu River. He met persons involved in rescue and relief operations when the cable bridge collapse mishap struck Morbi.
PM Modi held a high level meeting with top officials and took stock of the rescue and relief work. The meeting took note of the fact that the bridge having capacity to carry around 125 people at a time was over crowded on the fateful day.
The bridge which was closed since March, was recently re-opened and the tickets priced at Rs 12(children)-Rs 17 (adults) were sold out to public. However the cable bridge collapsed within four days.
Nine people have been arrested on suspicion of culpable homicide (not amounting to murder). They include two managers from Oreva Group (Ajanta Manufacturing Private Limited), the company that received the Morbi Municipal Corporation’s contract to repair the bridge.
Two ticketing clerks, two contractors hired by Oreva to fix the bridge, and three security guards who were supposed to oversee pedestrian traffic on the bridge have also been arrested. The accused has also been charged with prematurely activating the bridge.
The Prime Minister has declared that the PMNRF will pay an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of each of those killed in the accident. The injured would be compensated with Rs 50,000/-. Similarly, the Gujarat government has already promised an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh for each of those who died in the accident, as well as Rs 50,000/- for those who were injured.
A bench made up of Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi has scheduled a hearing for November 14 in relation to a PIL filed by Advocate Vishal Trivedi calling for a judicial investigation into the accident by a panel chaired by a retired Supreme Court judge.
Also Read: Gujarat’s Morbi Cable Bridge Collapses: PM Modi’s “Path of Duty” Campaign Continues
