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Morbi mishap opens a pandora’s box of mismanagement, know all about 140-year-old bridge

New Delhi: A suspension bridge reportedly fell on Sunday in Morbi, Gujarat, injuring several persons. Nearly 500 were on the bridge when it collapsed. The injured have been the subject of urgent rescue attempts, which the Prime Minister of India, Narendra, has directed. The bridge was inaugurated in the year 1879 The bridge was inaugurated […]

Edited By : Mayank Kasyap | Updated: Oct 31, 2022 13:22 IST
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Morbi Bridge

New Delhi: A suspension bridge reportedly fell on Sunday in Morbi, Gujarat, injuring several persons. Nearly 500 were on the bridge when it collapsed. The injured have been the subject of urgent rescue attempts, which the Prime Minister of India, Narendra, has directed.

The bridge was inaugurated in the year 1879

The bridge was inaugurated by the Governor of Mumbai, Richard Temple on 20 February 1879. The bridge was completed in 1880 at a cost of about Rs 3.50 lakhs. At that time the bridge material came from England.

The bridge was built to connect Darbargarh with Nazarbagh. This bridge of Morbi is more than 140 years old and its length is about 765 feet. This bridge is a historical heritage not only for Gujarat but for the entire country.

The bridge is 765 feet long and four and a half feet (4.6 feet) wide. When the bridge was built in 1887, it was 60 feet above the ground.

Morbi’s biggest accident after 43 years

On 11 August 1979, more than 2000 people died in the deluge caused by the collapse of the fish dam in Morbi, after which this major accident happened after 43 years. The bridge was of an old design but can withhold a maximum capacity of 100 people, the government officials informed.

About 400 more people are estimated to have been on the bridge when the accident happened. If we take into account the average weight of a person to be 60 kg, then it can be estimated that at that time the weight on the bridge was 30 thousand kg or 30 tons.

NDRF, Army, Navy, Fire Tenders carried out the rescue-ops

At least 3 teams of NDRF with 50 personnel of Navy, 30 personnel of Air Force, 2 companies of Indian Army were involved in rescue operations. Apart from this 7 teams of Fire Brigade reached Morbi from Rajkot, Jamnagar, Diu and Surendranagar with advanced equipments reached the spot of the mishap. isolation wards were also made at the Rajkot Civil Hospital for treatment.

The rescue operations ran throughout the night. Dead bodies were being recovered from the Macchu river. The recue team also patrolled throughout the night. The Garud commandos, NDRF team, fire brigade staff along with many divers kept searching for the dead bodies.

The people who lost their loved ones in the mishap are angry at the administration that if the bridge was not strong enough then why was it opened for the people. People are now in the due process of identifying the dead bodies.

Hospital filled with dead bodies

The Morbi Civil Hospitals was filled with dead bodies throughout its premise. Relatives of the deceased were seen running through the corridors of the hospital to locate and identify their dead relatives.

State Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel kept reviewing the relief work in Morbi overnight, along with Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghvi was also present at 6:00 am Harsh Sanghvi will give detailed information in this matter by holding a press conference.

The Chief Minister of Gujarat Bhupendra Patel also reached the hospital to take stock of the incident and interacted with the people who suffered injuries.

First published on: Oct 31, 2022 01:22 PM IST

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