THE PLAGUE OF FALLING BRIDGES

Celebration turned to tragedy this Dussehra in Palanpur town of Banaskantha district in north Gujarat.

- Jumana Shah

A section of an under-construction railway overbridge crumbled to the ground, killing two people and marking the latest in a disturbing series of incidents that have plagued the state over the past couple of years. It didn't take long for the issue to get politicised, as political parties traded charges and tried to pass the buck.

The opposition Congress claimed that the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) had blacklisted the firm constructing the flyover in 2017 because the roads it built were washed out in the first monsoon. "The contract was awarded to GPC Infrastructure in 2021 with the knowledge of its dubious operations that exist on government records," Congress Legislative Party leader Amit Chavda said. He also alleged that the company was rewarded for donating crores of rupees to the BJP before the 2019 election. The BJP government refuted the allegations, asserting that the government and Palanpur's urban local body had no role in GPC Infrastructure executing the project. The blacklisted firm was subcontracted by the company that was awarded the contract by the government, says an urban planner who has worked closely with the government for two decades.