Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel suspended four engineers from the state's roads and buildings department following the Mahisagar river bridge collapse in Vadodara, which killed 16 people with others missing. The suspensions came after an expert report, commissioned by CM Patel
File pic.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Thursday suspended four engineers from the state's roads and buildings department in connection with the tragic bridge collapse on the Mahisagar river in Vadodara district a day earlier. The incident has resulted in 16 confirmed deaths, with several persons still missing, reported news agency PTI.
Moreover, Chief Minister Patel, who also oversees the roads and buildings department, had commissioned an expert report detailing the repairs, inspections, and quality checks conducted on the bridge.
The decision to suspend the four engineers was made based on the findings of this report, a government release stated.
Meanwhile, those suspended with immediate effect are Executive Engineer N. M. Nayakawala, Deputy Executive Engineers U.C. Patel and R.T. Patel, as well as Assistant Engineer J.V. Shah, the release informed, according to PTI.
Furthermore, the Chief Minister has instructed department officials to immediately conduct intensive inspections of other bridges across the state in light of this devastating incident, the release added.
On the other hand, several vehicles plunged into the Mahisagar river after a section of the four-decade-old bridge, which connects Anand and Vadodara districts, collapsed near Gambhira village, close to Padra town in Vadodara, on Wednesday morning.
"So far, 16 bodies have been recovered, while three to four persons are still missing," Vadodara district Superintendent of Police Rohan Anand confirmed during the day. He added, "The search and rescue operation is still on."
According to PTI, Vadodara Collector Anil Dhameliya had previously stated that National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams are conducting a thorough search in the river for any survivors or additional bodies.
The Gambhira bridge slab, linking central Gujarat to the Saurashtra region and situated near Padra town, suffered a complete collapse between two piers, according to Superintendent of Police (Vadodara rural) Rohan Anand.
Moreover, the footage from the scene showed the entire slab of the bridge had collapsed, causing vehicles crossing it to fall directly into the river.
Following the incident, in addition to local efforts, a team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was deployed to the site, officials reported.
However, upon hearing of the tragedy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel expressed their sorrow. They also announced ex gratia payments of Rs 2 lakh and Rs 4 lakh respectively to the next of kin of each deceased, and Rs 50,000 compensation to the injured.
(With inputs from PTI)
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