Opposition Leaders Blame Gujarat Govt For Bridge Collapse

Following the collapse of the Gujarat Vadodara bridge, opposition parties on Wednesday said negligence on the part of the state government was resulting in such incidents, and sought Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel's resignation, according to PTI reports. 

It is claimed that despite some of the opposition leaders voicing concerns about the conditions of the bridge, the administration did not heed them.

Ten persons, including two siblings, were killed and nine others rescued, some of them with injuries, after several vehicles plunged into the Mahisagar river when a portion of a four-decade-old Gambhira bridge collapsed in Vadodara district around 7.30 am on Wednesday, officials said to PTI.

Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Amit Chavda said, "Local people, including Congress leaders, had represented many times to the administration that the condition of the bridge was very bad. We had said that its life was over as it was 40 years old. The government had, however, not paid any attention to the representations. The bridge has collapsed due to the criminal negligence of the state government. We demand inquiry and punishment for those responsible for such grave negligence," he said.

Chavda urged the state government to conduct an audit of all old bridges, with the report made public, so that people know whether they should travel on that bridge or not.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)'s Gujarat unit president Isudan Gadhvi demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.

Gadhvi said, "Many people have died in Gujarat due to corruption of the BJP government. This is not an accident; this is a man-made disaster. People have lost their lives due to the state government's negligence."

Former Gujarat CM Shankarsinh Vaghela said this is a clear case of criminal negligence, citing that social workers had flagged the bad condition of the bridge in 2022. They had sought the rebuilding of this bridge. However, the government did not do anything. “This is a case of criminal negligence”, he said.

PTI reports that Vaghela, who heads the Praja Shakti Democratic Party, said, "There should be a court-monitored probe and those responsible for this tragedy should be punished for this."