Safety First: Preventing Avoidable Tragedies

In yet another tragic incident, 141 precious lives were lost in the collapse of the hanging bridge at Morbi in Gujarat as a result of overcrowding. From the turn of events, it is evident that some unscrupulous elements in a bid to make quick money are responsible for the tragedy. It is alleged that the repairing job of the bridge was handed over to a firm which had no prior experience in carrying out such tasks. Furthermore, the bridge built during the British era was opened to the public by the private firm entrusted with the job of renovating the bridge without obtaining a no objection certificate from the administration. Further, the firm took no steps to limit the number of people eager to explore the newly-opened bridge. Despite knowing that the hanging bridge could only accommodate approx. 200 people at any given time, the firm allowed more than 600 people to venture out onto the bridge on that disastrous evening. Quite clearly, it was a profit-driven move as a ticketing system was in place and every visitor had to pay INR 17 to get access to the bridge. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised to punish the guilty, it is expected that those responsible for the deaths of so many people will not be spared at any cost. It is hoped that the culprits will soon face trail and be given due punishment for neglecting public safety.

It’s a pity that in India, we often ignore public safety. Roads are full of potholes, railway tracks are unsafe and skies are full of aircrafts not adequately serviced or maintained. Each year, we lose hundreds of lives due to improper maintenance of infrastructural facilities in the country. The situation in the country has taken a downturn with the entry of profit driven private sector firms. It has been reported that the renovation work on the bridge was allotted to a watch-making company, which in turn entrusted the job to another firm, equally ignorant on the nature of the work at hand. So, disaster was bound to happen as the job was carried out by novices. Moreover, only the flooring of the bridge had been changed and no effort was made to strengthen the cables holding the bridge. Such a situation could well have been averted if the said task was entrusted to a public sector undertaking (PSU), many of which are struggling due to lack of work or a reputable private firm with expertise in the field followed by unbiased site inspections by department officials. It is time now to take a policy decision to ensure that construction, renovation and maintenance works of infrastructural facilities which are important to public safety are awarded only to competent PSUs or reputable private firms with relevant field experience. The bridge tragedy in Gujarat has reminded us that we should simply not compromise on safety. An audit of all projects related to public safety should be conducted immediately to prevent any further loss of lives due to shoddy workmanship.