The grieving relatives of a family which lost seven of its members. (Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)“What am I supposed to do with the money when my family has been wiped out?,” asks Hemantbhai Parmar, 60, his voice hoarse with grief. On Tuesday morning, officials of the district administration visited his house in Nana Khijadiya village, close to 30 km from Morbi town, and handed over a cheque of Rs 16 lakh — Parmar had lost his youngest son Gautambhai (27), daughter-in-law Chandrikaben and his two grandsons aged nine and five.
The previous night, in the Vajepar area of the town, the families of neighbours Asifbhai Makwana, 35, and Prabhubhai Ghogha, 55, got the compensation cheques. Three of Makwana’s family members, including his seven-year-old-son Arshad, and Ghogha’s 19-year old daughter Priyanka had died in the Morbi bridge collapse.
Two days after a suspension bridge crashed into the Machchhu river in Morbi, killing 135 people, 34 of them children, all around the grieving town are questions – angry, bitter ones – about what is seen as an “avoidable tragedy”.
The Makwanas and Ghoghas have been neighbours and “family friends” for the last three decades, banding together for everything from grocery shopping to leisure outings. “My sister Priyanka was very fond of little Arshad. When their bodies were found, Priyanka was found gripping Arhsad’s index finger. My mother too had accompanied them but luckily, she escaped,” says Prabhubhai’s son Vikram.
The two families, united in their grief, say they now want answers from the administration and Oreva, the private company that was in charge of the operations and maintenance of the bridge.
“When the bridge was being managed by the Morbi municipality, 50 people would be allowed on the bridge and the entry and exits would be controlled. How could they give this private company the freedom to let in as many people as they wanted? Moreover, for 100 years, the wooden planks on the bridge never gave away but on the fifth day of the opening of this revamped bridge, this happens – what does this mean?” says Asifbhai, who lost his wife Shahbano, 29, and mother Mumtazben, 62, besides son Arshad, in the tragedy.
“After the accident, the rescue operations were all done by the locals and some fishermen who brought their boats. By the time the administration arrived, a lot of people were dead. Anyway, then the ministers arrived and the administration got busy making arrangements for them,” says Vikram.
He added that his father Prabhubhai and Asifbhai’s father Habibbhai had gone to the government-run GMERS Hospital after they were asked to be present during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit on Tuesday.
A common refrain among the families of those who lost their dear ones is that the government has “arrested lower-level officials instead of fixing the blame on those in higher positions”.
“The owners of Oreva have not been arrested. The municipality officials say that they were not aware the bridge was opened without a fitness certificate. But how is that possible when Oreva made a grand announcement of the same? Those who designed the bridge should be held responsible,” says Vikram.
Officials said an ex-gratia payment of Rs 4 lakh had been made to the next of kin of each of the victims and that Rs 50,000 would be paid to each of the injured. “The kin of each of the 135 victims has been handed over cheques worth Rs 4 lakh towards compensation. We have handed over relief totalling Rs 5.4 crore,” H R Sanchala, the mamlatdar in-charge of the Morbi district disaster control room, told The Indian Express.