Morbi bridge collapse toll rises to 134; rescue operation on
Morbi (PTI): The death toll in Morbi suspension bridge collapse rose to 134 on Monday, a senior Gujarat police official said, adding that the rescue operation was still underway.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi remained in Morbi during the night to oversee the rescue operation being conducted by multiple agencies.
The more than a century-old bridge on the Machchhu river in Morbi, located around 300 km from the state capital Gandhinagar, had reopened five days ago after extensive repairs and renovation. It was crammed with people when it collapsed around 6.30 pm on Sunday.
"The death toll in the bridge collapse incident has gone up to 134," Rajkot Range Inspector General Ashok Yadav told PTI.
The state information department said five teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), six platoons of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), a team of the Air Force, two columns of the Army, and two teams of the Indian Navy apart from local rescue teams were involved in the operation that continued through the night.
"The rescue operation is still on," Yadav said.
Sanghavi told reporters that the state government has formed a committee to conduct a probe into the bridge collapse.
Eyewitnesses said there were several women and children on the British era "hanging bridge" when it snapped, plunging them into the water below.
Apart from locals, people from nearby cities and villages had also come to the bridge on a holiday when it collapsed.
Due to the Diwali vacation and being a Sunday, there was a rush of tourists on the bridge, a major tourist attraction.
Before the tragedy occurred, some people were seen jumping on the bridge and pulling its big wires, an eyewitness said, adding that the bridge may have collapsed due to the "huge crowd" on it.
People fell over each other when the bridge collapsed, he said. Several of the victims were seen hanging by the edge of the bridge to prevent themselves from slipping into the river.
After the collapse, all that remained of the bridge was part of the metal carriageway hanging down from one end into the river water, its thick cables snapped in places.
At the local hospital, people formed a human chain to hold back crowds and keep the road clear for ambulances which brought those rescued.
A private operator had carried out the repair work of the bridge for nearly seven months before it was reopened for the public on the Gujarati New Year day on October 26.
The bridge was reopened after a private inaugural event and was yet to receive the municipality's "fitness certificate," a civic official said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is currently in Gujarat, spoke to CM Patel and other officials, the PM's Office said in a tweet.
Modi announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the next of kin of each of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to each of the injured, the PMO said.
The state government announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh for the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured.
Following the accident, Modi cancelled his road show scheduled to be held in Ahmedabad Monday ahead of the state Assembly polls, BJP sources said.
He will attend a programme to launch some railway projects in Ahmedabad.
A "page committee sammelan", scheduled to be held on Tuesday in Modi's virtual presence, has been put off, the sources added.
The Congress said its 'Parivartan Sankalp Yatra', which was to be taken out from five zones across the state on Monday, was postponed by a day following the bridge collapse.
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SC invalidates appointment of 25,753 teachers, other staff in West Bengal schools
New Delhi (PTI): In a major jolt to the West Bengal government, the Supreme Court on Thursday invalidated the appointment of 25,753 teachers and other staff in state-run and state-aided schools, and termed the entire selection process "vitiated and tainted".
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar upheld a Calcutta High Court verdict dated April 22, 2024, annulling the appointments and ordered the Trinamool Congress-led state government to initiate a fresh selection process to be concluded within three months.
"In our opinion, this is the case where the entire selection process is vitiated and tainted beyond resolution. Manipulations and frauds on a large scale, coupled with attempts to cover-up, have dented the selection process beyond repair.
"The credibility and legitimacy of selection are diluted, and accordingly, we have to keep it (order of the high court) with some modifications," the CJI said while pronouncing the verdict on as many as 127 petitions pertaining to the Calcutta High Court verdict.
The CJI also said the employees whose appointments have been annulled are not needed to return their salaries and other emoluments earned so far.
It, however, made relaxation for certain disabled employees on humanitarian grounds, saying they would remain in the job.
The bench fixed pleas, including the one filed by the West Bengal government challenging the high court direction for a CBI probe, for hearing on April 4.
The detailed judgement is awaited.
On February 10, the top court reserved its judgement on a batch of petitions in the matter and said that those who got jobs wrongly may be knocked out.
The top court commenced the final hearing on December 19 last year and heard the parties on January 15, 27 and February 10 before reserving its verdict on the politically-sensitive case.
Citing irregularities such as OMR sheet tampering and rank-jumping, the high court had invalidated the appointment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff in state-run and state-aided schools in West Bengal.
On May 7 last year, the apex court stayed the high court's order over the appointments made by the state's School Service Commission (SSC).
The top court, however, permitted the CBI to continue with its probe into the matter.
The case stemmed from the alleged irregularities in the 2016 recruitment process conducted by the West Bengal SSC in which 23 lakh candidates appeared for 24,640 posts and a total of 25,753 appointment letters were issued.
The apex court had termed it a "systemic fraud".
The high court instructed those appointed outside the officially available 24,640 vacancies, those recruited after the expiry of the official date, and those who submitted blank OMR sheets but obtained appointments to return all the remunerations and benefits received by them with 12 per cent per interest.
Former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee and Trinamool Congress MLAs Manik Bhattacharya and Jiban Krishna Saha are among the accused being probed in the recruitment scam.
