A day after the British-era suspension bridge collapsed in the Morbi district of Gujarat, it has come to light that the private contract, which was tasked with renovation work, opened the bridge for public use without fitness certification.

As per reports, the bridge on Machhu dam was closed for operational use about 7 months ago. A private company by the name of Oreva Group (Ajanta Manufacturing Private Limited) was given the contract in March of this year to renovate and maintain the said bridge.

The suspension bridge, which is also known as jhoolta pool, was reopened on the occasion of Gujarati New Year Day on October 26 this year. This was, however, done without obtaining a fitness certificate from the local Municipality.

Bridge reopened for public use without fitness certificate, contractor blames tragedy on overcrowding

According to the Chief Officer of Morbi Municipality, Sandeepsinh Zala, the bridge was handed over to the contractor to smoothly operate and maintain it for a span of 15 years.

“However, the private firm threw the bridge open to visitors without notifying us, and therefore, we couldn’t get a safety audit of the bridge conducted…It was opened to the public after the completion of the renovation work. But the local municipality had not yet issued any fitness certificate,” he said.

“While we are waiting for more information, prima facie, the bridge collapsed as too many people in the mid-section of the bridge were trying to sway it from one way to the other,” Oreva group’s official told The Indian Express.

Gujarat govt forms committee to probe disaster, criminal case to be lodged against the contractor

In the aftermath of the tragedy, the Gujarat government acted swiftly and appointed a 5-member committee to investigate the incident. The State Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi informed that the committee would include Sandeep Vasava, IAS Rajkumar Beniwal, IGP Subhash Trivedi, KM Patel, and Dr. Gopal Tank.

At the same time, a criminal case has been registered against the contractor under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 114, 304 (culpable homicide), and 308 (attempt to culpable homicide).

Rescue work underway, 135 people feared dead

As per reports, the death toll in the Morbi bridge disaster has risen to 135 from 60 by Monday (October 31) morning. A total of 180 were successfully rescued by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams.

Three teams of NDRF have been dispatched to Morbi from Gandhinagar and Vadodara. According to the Director General of NDRF, Atul Karwal, each team consists of 30 rescuers and 4 boats. He added that the 4th NDRF team will reach the site of the accident from Rajkot.

While speaking to the media, Harsh Sanghavi informed, “Everyone worked all through the night. Navy, NDRF, Air Force, and Army reached quickly. More than 200 persons have worked the entire night (for search and rescue operations).”

At the same time, a review meeting was held by State CM Bhupendra Patel at the Collector’s office in Morbi district along with MPs, MLAs, police, and health service officials. He had earlier visited the site of the accident on Sunday (October 30) evening.

According to Rushikesh Patel, the Health Minister of Gujarat, the injured victims are now being treated at hospitals and will be discharged only after the completion of their treatment.

References:

opindia.com