Nov. 1 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, has traveled this Tuesday to the town of Morbi, in the state of Gurajat, where he has visited some of those injured by the collapse of a suspension bridge due to which more than 130 people have lost life.
Likewise, Prime Minister Modi has also traveled to the scene of the event and has checked the state of the bridge as well as the search and rescue operations still underway on the Machchhu River, according to the ANI agency.
However, Modi’s visit to the Morbi civil hospital has sparked controversy because the facilities have been cleaned up before the president’s arrival, according to local media, which have released images of the cleaning work at the hospital.
According to NDTV television, the health facilities have undergone a remarkable “change of image” in the last hours after employees have worked during the night moving the injured to the plants that presented better conditions.
The Indian Police have already arrested nine workers from the Oreva company, in charge of the renovation work on the suspension bridge that collapsed on Sunday in Morbi. The arrests have come as the company faces various accusations of violating safety regulations.
Oreva allegedly left the technical aspects of the bridge renovation in the hands of a smaller company with an unknown track record, and proceeded to reopen the bridge five months ahead of schedule and without having the relevant certificate from the authorities.
The services of this company were contracted last March and the bridge had been reopened just five days ago, on October 26. However, the contract indicated that the bridge should be closed for at least eight months or a year to carry out the relevant maintenance work.
It appears that some of the older cables were not replaced in the renovation of the bridge, which may have affected its stability. However, Oreva’s CEO, Jaysukhbhai Patel, stated that they had completely refurbished the structure on opening day and predicted that it would stand for nearly a decade.
The first indications of the investigation suggest that the bridge was prepared to support the weight of 125 people, a figure much lower than the 400 that are believed to have been on the platform when the collapse occurred.
Modi has promised that “he will leave no ground unturned” when it comes to responding and helping the survivors, wounded and relatives of the victims
