For PM’s Visit, Gujarat Hospital’s Overnight Clean-Up After Bridge Tragedy

An all-night spruce up at the civil hospital in Gujarat’s Morbi ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit today to meet the survivors of the massive bridge collapse tragedy that left 135 dead has drawn criticism from the Opposition.

The Prime Minister will be in Morbi this morning in the aftermath of the horrifying collapse of the cable suspension bridge across the Machchhu river. Of the 135 people killed, 47 were children. Over a 100 injured are being treated, many of them at the Morbi civil hospital.

The NDTV team visited the hospital last night and found a huge post-midnight “makeover” in progress just hours before the Prime Minister’s visit.

A few walls and parts of the ceiling were freshly painted, and new water coolers were brought in. Bedsheets in the two wards where about 13 of those injured in the bridge tragedy are admitted were speedily changed too. Multiple people were seen sweeping the premises late at night. Amid the massive clean-up, old water coolers and damaged walls and ceiling gave away the real picture.

The renovation, which is not uncommon ahead of visits by top government functionaries, has attracted criticism. Opposition parties Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have accused the BJP of being busy with “event management” to ensure a “photoshoot” for the Prime Minister.

Terming it a “tragedy event”, the Congress tweeted from its official handle in Hindi, “Tomorrow, Prime Minister Modi will visit the civil hospital in Morbi. Ahead of that, painting is on, shiny tiles are being laid. All arrangements are being made to ensure that there is nothing amiss in the Prime Minister’s pictures. They have no shame, so many people have died, and they are busy in event management.”

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is pushing hard to emerge as a key player in the Gujarat polls this year, tweeted pictures of the renovation. “Scenes at the Morbi Civil Hospital. Repair work is on to ensure there is nothing amiss in the Prime Minister’s photoshoot tomorrow. If the BJP had worked in the past 27 years, there would have been no need to spruce up the hospital at midnight.”

NDTV also found that some work had been stopped following an uproar by the Opposition parties over the sprucing up exercise at a time when the town has witnessed the country’s worst bridge tragedy in decades.