Gujarat's Morbi bridge collapse led to four arrests and five detentions: report

• Image Credit: Internet

• Oct 31, 2022 | Sourav Boruah

Digital Desk: According to reports, the bridge manager and the maintenance
manager are among the nine personnel. Additionally, those in charge of the
bridge's administration were interrogated.

After the suspension bridge in the Machhu river in Gujarat's Morbi town
fell, 134 people have already killed and more than 100 others have been hurt.
Rising death tolls are anticipated.

A CCTV camera saw
a group of young guys taking pictures while others attempted to rock the
suspension bridge from side to side just before it collapsed, sending them
plummeting into the river below when the wires holding it together gave way.

The nine people
were detained, the police said news agency Reuters, after they filed a criminal
complaint against those in charge of the bridge's management, upkeep, and
reconstruction.

Details on those
who had been detained would be released later in the day, according to senior
police official Ashok Yadav.

The bridge reportedly has a capacity of 100 to 150
people, but on Sunday, between 400 and 500 people were on it.

On allegations of culpable homicide not amounting to
murder, police have filed a FIR against the organisations in charge of the
maintenance and operation of the cable bridge.

Sandeepsinh Zala, the chief officer of Morbi
Municipality, informed the media that the contract for the reconstruction and
maintenance of the bridge was awarded to the city's Oreva Group, a manufacturer
of clocks and e-bikes.

According to the
FIR filed by Inspector Prakash Dekiwadia of the "B" Division of the
Police, the bridge across the Machhu River in Morbi Town had been out of
commission for about eight months since the local government had given it to a
"private agency" to maintain. The agency opened the bridge to the
public on October 26 following the conclusion of the maintenance work, according
to the FIR. On Sunday at around 6.30 p.m., the bridge gave way, causing
numerous individuals to tumble into the river and perish.

The FIR claims that the agency staff members' callous behaviour
was to blame for the tragedy. It claimed that the interested parties or
organisations did not pay attention to the quality of the bridge's maintenance
and repair work. According to the FIR, the agency allowed the bridge to the
public despite knowing that its callous approach to maintenance and repair
could lead to fatalities.

According to the office of the Gujarat chief minister on Monday,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Morbi on Tuesday in the afternoon
to learn more about the "Jhoola bridge" catastrophe.