Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday visited the site in Morbi district where a 142-year old suspension bridge collapsed on Sunday. He also met the families of the victims and injured.
Modi also reviewed the situation post his visits to ground zero of the incident that claimed the lives of at least 140 people. He said the authorities must stay in touch with the affected families and ensure that all possible assistance to them. Officials involved in rescue and relief operations also briefed the PM about the situation.
Modi also met the personnels involved in rescue and relief operations. He also visited the Morbi Civil Hospital to meet the injured.
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He was accompanied by chief minister Bhupendra Patel, state home minister Harsh Sanghvi, local MLA and MoS skill development Brajesh Merja and senior state government officials.
Modi said that the need of the hour is to conduct a detailed and extensive inquiry to identify all aspects relating to this mishap.
Earlier in the day, Modi dedicated and laid the foundation stone of projects worth around `860 crore in tribal-dominated Panchmahal district and addressed two large gatherings at Jambughoda and Mangarh in Banswara district of Rajasthan situated on Gujarat-Rajasthan border.
He dedicated the new campus of Shri Govind Guru University-Godhra, Sant Joriya Parameshwar Primary School and Memorial located at Vadek village and Raja Rup Singh Nayak Primary School as well as a Memorial located in Dandiyapura village.
Modi also laid the foundation stone for the building of Kendriya Vidyalaya-Godhra. He also laid the foundation stone for Godhra Medical College and the expansion of Kausalya-The Skill University.
“Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana initiated for the upliftment of tribal communities has played a huge role in all-round development of tribal districts in the last one-and-a-half decade,” Modi said.
“More than `1 trillion has been spent under this scheme so far. Further `1 trillion will be spent by the Gujarat government in coming years,” the prime minister said while addressing a large gathering at Jambughoda.
Modi also attended a public programme ‘Mangarh Dham ki Gaurav Gatha’ and paid homage to the sacrifices of unsung tribal heroes and martyrs of the freedom struggle at Mangarh Dham — a memorial for around 1500 unarmed tribals massacred by the British army in 1913 located in Banswara district of Rajasthan. The central government wants a grand expansion of Mangarh Dham and for this purpose state governments of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra need to work together, he said.
In the event at Mangarh, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and his Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh counterparts Bhupendra Patel and Shivraj Singh Chauhan were also present.