Rusty Governance

Each monsoon, Maharashtra’s Western Ghats don their finest as mist curls over dark green ridges, waterfalls roar to life and families rush to picnic spots like Maval, Mulshi or Lonavla. But with dependable regularity, these scenic marvels inevitably become the site of preventable tragedy. Pune district’s verdant Kundamala in Maval taluka was the site of the latest calamity which occurred when an old iron bridge spanning the Indrayani River collapsed under the weight of over 150 visitors. Four people have officially been declared dead. Eighteen are grievously injured. Others remain missing. The state’s response, so far, has been an exasperating combination of hand-wringing and hollow promises.

The government, as usual, was nowhere before the tragedy and everywhere after. Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief minister Ajit Pawar blamed rust and overcrowding. Disaster Management Minister Girish Mahajan blamed the crowd, observing the bridge was meant for pedestrians only. He insinuated that the dead had brought this upon themselves. But who was responsible for keeping a rusting, decades-old bridge intact - or closing it down if it was no longer safe? Whose job was it to regulate crowd control at a well-known tourist site that draws hundreds every weekend during the monsoon?

One cannot heap responsibility solely on the last motorcyclist who ventured across a visibly decaying span. This is an unpardonable failure of governance at every level. The bridge was 30 years old, visibly corroded and vulnerable to swelling waters and human pressure. Yet, the flush-with-funds Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation will deflect blame saying the area does not fall under its jurisdiction. Tenders had apparently been cleared for a new bridge, but rains had delayed construction - a paltry excuse in a region that receives monsoon downpours every year. The collector had even issued advisories against venturing near water bodies. But when did a PDF file on an official website ever stop people from crossing a bridge with no police presence and no barricades?

It is telling that no preventive infrastructure was in place despite the state’s own classification of Kundamala as a vulnerable monsoon site. This is bureaucratic apathy masquerading as helplessness. The absence of police deployment during the peak of the picnic season reflects not ignorance but indifference. Officials cannot claim surprise when predictable risks in form of old bridges and surging crowds lead to predictable consequences.

That the bridge collapsed does not absolve the public from the responsibility of basic caution. Each year brings reports of drownings and of waterfalls sweeping away hikers. Despite past tragedies, thrill-seekers and selfie-hunters routinely ignore the risks. But it is the state’s institutions that must shoulder the greater burden of blame. Offering ex gratia cheques and promising medical care is the minimum. What about ensuring that no such payouts are needed next time?

If Maharashtra cannot protect its own citizens from foreseeable dangers at home, then it is not the public that is to blame for venturing out. It is the government that has forgotten to govern.