Morning Pulse: A six-year-old Narmada bridge fails, and Gujarat takes its contractor to the police

Gujarat starts the week with a bridge that did not last. The Karjan river bridge on the Rajpipla–Ramgadh (Navagam) road in Narmada district was finished in August 2020. It is now closed to vehicles, and on Sunday the state took its builder to the police. It was a quiet weekend for politics and a quiet night for news, so this is a shorter Pulse, and the first since Friday afternoon.

According to an official release reported by ANI and by PTI via ThePrint, the Roads and Buildings Department filed an FIR at Rajpipla police station against Royal Infra Engineering Pvt Ltd of Surat. The contract was awarded in 2018-19 at a tender cost of Rs 10.71 crore. Work ran from 15 September 2018 to 14 August 2020. An inspection found that one foundation had settled, and a Quality Control Division check then found defects in other parts of the structure. Traffic was stopped because the bridge was judged unsafe.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel ordered criminal proceedings against the contractor and its representatives. He also ordered disciplinary action, under the state's 1971 civil services discipline rules, against officials found responsible for poor work and negligence. Neither report carried a response from Royal Infra Engineering. The release does not name any official, say when traffic was halted or say how villagers will now cross the river.

The second item is about investment. Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi spoke at the India Club in Kobe, Japan, on Sunday as part of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit outreach, ANI and IANS reported. He asked for a standing link between Gujarat's industries and the Gujarati community in Japan, rather than meetings only when delegations visit every two years. He proposed a local platform to connect Gujarat's small and medium firms with Japanese partners, with the state Industries Department and the Indian Embassy coordinating.

In Ahmedabad, cybercrime police arrested two men from Rajasthan accused of selling fake garba passes, DeshGujarat and TV9 Gujarati reported. DeshGujarat named them as Virendra Singh Rajput, 21, of Jodhpur, and Kishan Singh Rathod, 22, of Sikar. Police allege they advertised cheap passes on an Instagram account and used the names of about 25 event organisers. The accused have not been heard from, and police are still looking for other people involved.

One weekend story is worth carrying into the week. IANS reported that Gujarat's peak power demand hit a record 29,822 MW on 16 October, and that Energy Minister Rushikesh Patel reviewed supply on Saturday. The government said supply was adequate and asked people to cut evening use. In the fields, the picture looked different: TV9 Gujarati reported that farmers in Patan's Saraswati taluka marched to a UGVCL office demanding nine hours of power a day.

Some loops from Friday remain open. We found no new report on the Chhatral forensic findings, the Pirana drain search or a Gandhinagar mayor. The US State Department lists Jamnagar on Marco Rubio's 17-22 October trip. Business Today reported, citing The Times of India, that the stop is planned for 21 October with a meeting with Mukesh Ambani. That date had not been officially confirmed when it was published.