Raise the height of rallying of river bridges to prevent suicides:LoP to AMC Commissioner

Ahmedabad, 7 October 2014

Leader of opposition in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, Shri Badruddin Sheikh in a letter to Municipal Commissioner today demanded installation of safety net on both sides of rallying of all river bridges in Ahmedabad to prevent suicides.

In a statement, Shri Sheikh said, in last five months there has been over 143 incidents of suicides in river Sabarmati. Of them 122 cases involved gents while 19 cases involved ladies. In the month of June this year, 29 gents and 2 ladies, in July 28 gents and 4 ladies, in August 28 gents and 9 ladies, in September 28 gents and 4 ladies and in October so far 5 gents and 2 ladies have jumped from the bridges to end their life.

Shri Sheikh said, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation needs to open a Psychiatric center, like Surat Municipal Corporation(SMC) which has already opened such center.

Shri Sheikh further said, Surat Municipal Corporation has installed net of over 4 ft height on rallying of river bridges to prevent suicides, and this idea has in fact worked. Similarly Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited(SSNNL) has also installed tall net over canal bridges near Adalaj, and this step has reduced the number of suicides.

Shri Sheikh has in a letter to Municipal Commissioner demanded installation of over 4 ft solid net over rallying of river bridges.

It should be mentioned that in the past, Kankaria lake was a destination of choice for those wanting to commit suicide. However, after introduction of ticket entry, there has not been even a single incident of suicide there. The next destination for weak minds was Narmada canal on Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar highway, but after fencing and multiple sign boards that have been put there by authority, the only popular destination left for weak minds is Sabarmati river.