A Year After Gujarat Bridge Tragedy, Victims’ Families Still Seek Justice

India: A number of people who lost their family members in the Morbi bridge collapse one year ago gathered near the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on Monday demanding “justice” for the victims and the harshest punishment for those responsible for the tragedy.

Apart from the 10 persons arrested so far, those found guilty of negligence in the Special Investigation Team (SIT) report should also be arrested and punished, said a man who lost his 10-year-old daughter in the tragedy.

A person whose son and nephew were killed in the incident claimed there was no crowd management at the bridge, which collapsed on October 30 last year, claiming 135 lives including 50 children.

A woman, who lost her son in the tragedy, said she had raised him by working as a domestic help and no amount of compensation can heal her wounds.

The incident had taken place on the British-era suspension bridge on the Machchhu river when hundreds of people were allowed to gather on the structure at the same time.

Under the banner of ‘Tragedy Victim Association – Morbi’, around 40 people who have lost their dear ones, sat for nearly three hours at a place opposite the Sabarmati Ashram on Monday morning to pay homage to the men, women and children who died.

According to the president of the association, Narendra Parmar, the families of the victims had originally planned to hold ‘Shraddhanjali Yatra’, a march from the Sabarmati Ashram till the residence of chief minister in Gandhinagar, on the occasion of one year of the bridge tragedy.