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Accidents In India

Morbi bridge collapse was an 'act of God': Accused tells Gujarat court

A manager of the Oreva group, one of the nine persons arrested in connection with collapse of a suspension bridge in Gujarat's Morbi town, sought relief from a local court claiming the tragedy which has claimed 135 lives was an "act of God", the prosecution said on Wednesday. Chief Judicial Magistrate M J Khan had on Tuesday remanded four of the arrested accused -- two managers of the Oreva group and two sub-contractors who had repaired the ill-fated bridge -- in police custody till Saturday (November 5). The other five accused were remanded in judicial custody and sent to jail. The British-era carriageway, built on the river Machchhu, had collapsed on Sunday evening, killing 135 people, including women and children. In their defence during arguments on remand application on Tuesday, one of the Oreva managers had sought relief on the ground that he was just doing the job given to him by the company and the tragedy was merely an "act of God", public prosecutor HS Panchal told ...

Updated On : 02 Nov 2022 | 11:24 PM IST

Morbi bridge ropes were not replaced, only repainted: Public prosecutor

The First Class Judicial Magistrate on November 1 granted four-day remand of two managers and two workers to the police

Updated On : 02 Nov 2022 | 4:56 PM IST

Morbi bridge collapse: Gujarat observes state-wide mourning for victims

Civic bodies in Ahmedabad and Surat held condolence meetings as Gujarat observed state-wide mourning on Wednesday to pay homage to the victims of the Morbi bridge collapse tragedy. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel was present at the condolence meet organised by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. Flags were flown at half-mast at the state secretariat in Gandhinagar and other Gujarat government offices. All official and entertainment programmes were cancelled. The collapse of the bridge on Sunday evening claimed 135 lives. Ahmedabad Mayor Kirit Parmar said, "We organised a meet to condole the loss of lives in the tragic incident." Similar prayer meetings were also held in other parts of the state. The decision to observe the state-wide mourning was taken on Monday in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to review the situation after the tragedy. CM Bhupendra Patel had in a tweet said no official function will be held on Wednesday. Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday calle

Updated On : 02 Nov 2022 | 3:48 PM IST

Morbi tragedy effect: Hourly cap on visitors at Atal Bridge opened in Aug

The Ahmedabad civic body has decided to restrict the number of persons on the pedestrian-only Atal Bridge on the Sabarmati River here to 3,000 per hour, after the Morbi bridge tragedy in which 134 people were killed, an official said. The 300-metre long and 14-metre wide Atal Bridge, which connects the flower garden on the western-end of the riverfront and the upcoming arts and culture centre on the eastern-end, has become a huge attraction for people since it was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 27. "Though the bridge is capable of bearing the weight of nearly 12,000 people, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has decided to limit the number of visitors on it in view of the Morbi bridge tragedy," the civic-run Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation Ltd, which manages the structure, said in a statement on Monday. "As a precaution, we have decided to limit the number of visitors on the Atal Bridge. Now, only 3,000 visitors will be given entry every hour. No

Updated On : 01 Nov 2022 | 9:53 AM IST

PM Modi holds high-level review meeting on Gujarat's Morbi bridge disaster

The Prime Minister once again emphasised on ensuring that those affected get all possible assistance

Updated On : 31 Oct 2022 | 9:10 PM IST

What is a suspension bridge? What possibly led to Morbi bridge collapse?

What is a suspension bridge? How does it transfer the load to the ground? Those were questions on the minds of many on Monday, a day after a century-old suspension bridge in Gujarat's Morbi over the Machchhu river collapsed, leaving 134 people dead. Just before the bridge collapsed, CCTV footage showed, some men were trying to rock the suspension bridge from one side to another. Saptadip Sarkar, a structural engineer working with Delhi-based Engineers India Limited answers these questions. "The deck of the suspension bridge, which bears the weight of the people walking on it in addition to its own weight, is held in place by the means of vertical suspenders which are made from ductile material and subjected to tension," he said. "These suspenders are then connected to the main cable which is also ductile and subjected to tension. "The main cable, which spans between the points connected by the bridge and is intermediately supported by vertical main column piers, has two functions

Updated On : 31 Oct 2022 | 8:59 PM IST

Sneak peak into major bridge collapse incidents in India in recent past

As Gujarat reels from one of the deadliest bridge collapse incidents in India's recent history, claiming at least 134 lives, PTI recalls other such tragic episodes that have shocked the nation in the past several years. According to a 2020 study 'Analysis of bridge failures in India from 1977 to 2017', published in international journal 'Structure and Infrastructure Engineering', as many as "2,130 bridges" -- excluding culverts and pedestrian bridges -- have failed to provide intended service or collapsed during various phases of construction in the last four decades. 1. Darjeeling bridge collapse (2011): Thirty-two people were killed and over 60 injured when an old wooden footbridge over a spring gave away, under the pressure of crowd, during a Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) meeting at Bijanbari in Darjeeling district on October 22, 2011. The bridge, which had been weakened by the September 18 earthquake, collapsed when a large number of people gathered on it for the meeting. 2. ...