Morbi Bridge Collapse: PIL Filed In Supreme Court Seeking Investigation
Ever since the collapse of a cable bridge in Gujarat's Morbi district on Sunday, the Morbi administration as well as the Gujarat government are being subjected to criticism and public scrutiny.
Lawyer seeks judicial investigation
On the legal front, a lawyer named Vishal Tiwari has moved Supreme Court with a PIL to probe the sudden collapse of the bridge. (Vishal Tiwari Vs Union of India).
Tiwari has urged the Supreme Court to direct the formation of a judicial commission under the chairmanship of a retired Supreme Court Judge to investigate the matter. Vishal's contention is in line with the widespread public outrage suspecting negligence on the part of the government authorities.
Who is to blame
While the next hearing in the case is scheduled in two weeks on November 14, the debate on the aspects of mismanagement and negligence is gaining traction. As the number of casualties rises to 137, numerous questions have surfaced in media reports and social media channels.
Whether the management and repair work of the bridge was given to private contractors without a tender?
Whether due diligence was followed in choosing the right contractors for the repair job?
How come a bridge that survive more than 100 years fell apart after repair work?
Was it a case of overcrowding?
Besides these glaring questions, the aspect of overcrowding cannot be ruled out. The public often burdens such old bridges as means of quick transit from point A to point B. A case in point is the closure of the Lakshman Jhula in Rishikesh from time to time due to overloading. Locals in Uttrakhand's yoga capital have been warned of keeping their vehicles away on the narrow bridge that has served the commuters as a means of tourism as well as transport for decades.
Coming back to the Morbi bridge collapse, Tiwari's petition mentions that the bridge had more than 500 people at the time of the incident. Was the number, if true, permissible on a bridge that was just opened last week after repair work?
Casting a shadow of doubt on the risk assessment process and the administrative supervision on the repair and management of the bridge, the petitioner also sought the formation of a Construction Incident Investigation Department for conducting a prompt investigation in similar cases across the country.
Tiwari's PIL comes after Morbi Police's FIR
The FIR filed by Morbi Police has booked the private agencies for reportedly displaying carelessness in the repair and management of the bridge that was closed for eight months. The agency is facing the heat over its hurry to open the bridge for the public on October 26.
As the administrative investigation takes lead in identifying what went wrong, time will tell if the judiciary plays a central role in setting a precedent for astute administrative supervision and risk assessment procedure for monuments and structures of this kind.
