Mobilenews24x7 Bureau
‘‘When times get rough and friends just can’t be found, I will lay me down like bridge over troubled water’’- this song by Simon and Gurfunkel seems to shed light on the potency of bridges.
Ours is a really reactive system that is obsessed with some faults to take place before we take a lesson from.
From what it appears abundantly evidenced is the recent tragedy in Gujarat’s Morbi. That is about the suspended bridge collapse which claimed more than 155 lives and the final tally still awaited.
An umpteen number of alarms have been raised nationwide regarding the health of all the hanging bridges.
Back home in Odisha also the hanging bridge in Dhabaleswar has suddenly pitch forked into the limelight as the government has immediately halted all activities on the bridge and has clamped Section 144.
AS such the said above bridge was not in good condition and had shown signs of fatigue earlier also.
According to media reports, around 400 to 500 people were present on the Morbi bridge to celebrate Chhath puja. It has been speculated that the bridge had collapsed due to overcrowding and overloading, as per experts.
Other reports also said that, they were all not Chhat devotees but people from other sections of the society.
The suspension bridge in Gujarat’s Morbi had been shut down for repairs and renovations and was opened recently. Media reports said that proper fitness checks were not done and no government authorization was taken before reopening the bridge by the public.
As already known, the unsafe bridge was given to be repaired by a company, which manufactures watches and clocks under the banner Ajanata. Interestingly, with zero experience on bridge construction, let alone suspension bridge.
Probes are on but lives have been lost. And that is it.
This is a list of bridges 1 through 100 (of 629 total) from the suspension bridge inventory for the country India.
Now every where there a panic button is being pressed where such a bridge is there.
Morbid Face-lift
The other irony is that, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Morbi and before that, the Morbi hospital is getting a face-lift on a war-footing, spending lakhs of rupees in cleaning, sanitising and almost a re-incarnation of the hospital. Where most of the injured are being treated.
Such extravaganza has been high-lighted in the media and the very action of cleaning the hospital has drawn severe criticism from all spectrums.
Why do such things happen in India.
