Morbi bridge collapse: Another “message from god”?
The Morbi bridge collapse has so far claimed 141 lives and injured over a hundred. It is obviously a case of negligence—be it about maintenance, awarding of the maintenance contract to a company with no related experience, over-selling tickets by a few hundred leading to overcrowding, etc.
Now let us cut back to Kolkata in 2016. On March 31 of that year, a few months before the Bengal Assembly elections, the Vivekananda Flyover in the city collapsed, killing 26 and injuring many.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the campaign trail then, said the incident was “god’s message” to the people of Bengal to save themselves from Trinamool Congress.
So what would the PM say on the incident in Morbi in his home state, of which he has been chief minister for a record number of years?
A staggering number of deaths and injuries have stirred up a storm of allegations from various quarters, many pointed at the BJP-run Morbi Municipality’s lack of oversight on the renovation and maintenance of the bridge, including the awarding of the contract to a particular company.
Will Modi deliver another sermon on a message from god before another assembly election? Or remain content with announcing ex gratia payments and a perfunctory visit to the incident site?
