On Wednesday, July 9, at around 7.30 am, nightmare was unleashed in broad daylight in Gujarat when a 15-20-metre segment of the 40-year-old 830-metre-long Gambhira bridge—a key connector between central Gujarat and the Saurashtra region—caved in, resulting in more than half a dozen vehicles getting submerged into the underneath Mahisagar river.

The bridge connecting the Vadodara and Anand districts of Gujarat was heavily patronised by truckers, tankers, and people wanting to avoid the toll on the Vadodara-Ahmedabad Expressway.

As is the case with most disasters in Bharat today, ill-equipped villagers from the nearby area were the first to take on the challenge of the rescue and relief operations before the team of NDRF, SDRF and fire brigade reached the site. Ironically, but for an eight-wheeled tanker precariously hanging like a Damocles’ Sword tethering at the brink of the ill-fated bridge, more vehicles could have drowned in the river, resulting in a much bigger casualty.

The rescue and relief operations continued on the fourth day after the collapse of the Gambhira Bridge over the Mahi River in Padra taluka. Though the rescue teams with great difficulty have managed to retrieve all the vehicles from the riverbed, there is no final word yet on the rescued injured and the retrieval of the bodies of the dead from beneath the river.

The rescue and relief work was rendered extremely difficult with the recovery operations hindered by the incessant rains and thick mud in the riverbed.

On Wednesday, the day of the accident, the original casualty number reported was 12 dead, including three from a family. Also, 9 injured people were saved by the rescuers. By the time I began writing this piece on July 10, the number of dead had jumped to 18. When I was close to finishing the piece on July 11, the number of dead climbed to 20 with the recovery of one more body and the death of an injured person. As I conclude the piece on July 12, the number of dead has climbed to 21, with one more death.

Sadly, even this is not likely to be the final number of casualties because at least two more persons are missing.

It is too early to say with a reasonable degree of confidence why and how the Gambhira bridge collapsed. Nonetheless, one palpable reason is evident: the bridge was constructed in another era, 1985 to be precise. In those days, two-axle trucks, smaller light commercial vehicles, and lighter passenger vehicles plied Indian roads and highways, and a bridge constructed then was unfit for handling the fast-growing movement of multi-axle trucks, trailers and tankers, and passenger automobiles.

That being the case, the Gambhira bridge collapse was just waiting to happen.

But why did the bridge collapse? It will take time to unravel the root cause of the collapse. It is possible, like most bridge collapses in the country, that the root cause may not be known or may not be made public even if known.

In the interim, Rushikesh Patel, Gujarat Health Minister and government spokesperson, stated on Friday, July 11, that as per the preliminary investigation, the collapse of the Mujpur-Gambhira bridge was due to the structural failure, specifically the crushing of pedestals and articulation joints.

But the moot question that begs an answer is why too many bridges in Bharat keep tumbling down with alarming frequency?

I will address this question in a........

© News18