KEVADIA: PM Narendra Modi said Monday that he was torn between the call of his “grief-laden heart” that wouldn’t leave the side of those touched by tragedy in Morbi the previous evening and the “path of karma and kartavya” that led him to Kevadia in Narmada district for a scheduled Rashtriya Ekta Diwas event.
“I am in Ekta Nagar but my mind is filled with thoughts of those battling the pain of loss in Morbi. Rarely have I felt such numbing grief,” Modi told the gathering near the Statue of Unity, coinciding with the death toll in the suspension footbridge collapse rising to 134. The PM is scheduled to travel to Morbi, around 65km from Rajkot, on Tuesday before flying out of Gujarat. The chief minister's office tweeted an official confirmation of the visit.
Modi chaired a meeting with representatives of the state administration at Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar to review the relief effort in Morbi. All aspects relating to the tragedy were discussed, but the PM emphasised that the immediate priority was to extend assistance to the affected, officials said.
“In this hour of grief, the government is with the bereaved families in every way possible. The Gujarat government has been carrying out relief and rescue operations since yesterday, with the chief minister (Bhupendra Patel) at the forefront. It has already constituted a committee to investigate the incident. The Centre, too, is doing whatever is required. I assure the people of the country that there will be no laxity,” Modi said at the event in Kevadia.
CM Patel announced state mourning for the victims of the tragedy on November 2.
