Morbi bridge collapse: India's worst bridge disasters

A suspension bridge in Morbi, Gujarat collapsed on Sunday leaving at least 134 dead. While national and world leaders expressed grief at the tragedy, Morbi B Division Police Inspector Prakashbhai Dekavadiya has filed an FIR against the maintenance and management agencies of the bridge.

Read | Collapsed Morbi suspension bridge had reopened 4 days back after 7-month-long repair work; lacked civic body's fitness certificate

Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences and offered monetary help to the families of those affected, the authorities said that the bridge was opened to the public before the local municipality issued any fitness certificate. The incident has received global attention with the British High Commission, the Singaporean counterpart, and the Nepal Prime Minister expressing their condolences.

Opposition party Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that this was not the time for politics or blaming anyone, instead offering to help.

Take a look at some of the worst bridge disasters the country witnessed:

Daman bridge collapse

In August 2003, a 100-year-old dilapidated bridge collapsed in Daman, killing 25, including 23 children. The bridge fell into the Damanganga river, after heavy rains in Daman and Diu.

Bihar bridge collapse

In 2006, a 150-year-old bridge in Bihar collapsed, killing 34. The bridge fell on a passenger train at a railway station.

Kolkata Majerhat Bridge collapse

On September 4, 2018, the Majerhat Bridge in Kolkata's upscale Alipore neighbourhood collapsed, resulting in three deaths and 25 injuries. Around the time of the accident, there were some concerns in Kolkata about proper road maintenance not being undertaken. It was the third bridge collapse in the city in six years and there were worries about the bridge which was over 50 years old.

The Majerhat bridge had undergone repairs in 2010 but a 2016 audit had flagged it as unsafe. In 2018, commuters, nearby residents, and the police raised concerns as cracks had begun to show in the structure.

Pollution, poor maintenance, and hasty repairs on part of the state public works department (PWD) were found to be contributing factors to the bridge's collapse.

In 2016, the Vivekananda Flyover - then under construction - collapsed, killing 26 in the City of Joy.

Mumbai foot overbridge collapse

On March 14, 2019, part of the foot overbridge connecting the north end of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) railway station to Badaruddin Tayabji Lane collapsed, killing six and injuring 30.

The bridge, maintained by the BMC, had undergone repair six months before the incident. After this, 445 bridges were audited for safety, but the BMC noted that the foot overbridge did not have a proper structural audit. It was also found that officers had no records of inspection or supervision during repairs or the audit.

Doomed to crumble unless we grow

The structural integrity of bridges in India has long been questioned, with many washing away in floods, or even collapsing due to lack of repairs.

In India, bridge maintenance is a sprawling task that falls to different bodies. The National Highways Authority of India looks after highway bridges, while the Border Roads Organisation handles bridges at the border. The railways take care of their bridges and the rest falls to the state's public works department.

A paper titled Experience in bridge management systems in India notes "About 6,400 road bridges were listed in a recent survey only on national highways and of these about 50 per cent were reported to need some form of repairs or rehabilitation". "It has also been reported that more than half the bridges have an age of above 40 years and bridge planning so far has been done with the assumption of an average life of about 50 years. Systematic maintenance of bridges has not been followed so far," it added.

The Gadkari fix

Nitin Gadkari, as the minister of road transport & highways and shipping, launched the Indian Bridge Management System (IBMS) in New Delhi in October 2016.

Since then, the Indian Road Congress (IRC) has welcomed IBMS presentations at the annual meet. At the time of setting up the system, Gadkari had outlined that its task would be to prepare a database of all bridges in the country and detail their structural conditions, so timely action can be taken.