Morbi municipality 'acting smart': Gujarat HC as authorities skip hearing
Taking suo moto cognizance of the Morbi bridge collapse, which left 135 people dead last month, the Gujarat High Court on Tuesday lambasted the Morbi municipality for "acting smart" and not turning up for the hearing despite being served a notice. The bench also sought a reply from six government departments asking why no tender was floated to repair the "heritage" public bridge.
Why does this story matter?
- The 143-year-old colonial-era Morbi cable suspension bridge over the Machchhu River collapsed on October 30 when 400-500 people were on it.
- Notably, the bridge reopened just four days before the mishap after being closed for six-seven months for renovation.
- The bridge, owned by the Morbi municipality, was reportedly contracted to Oreva Group—a wall clock and e-bike manufacturer—for maintenance and management operations for 15 years.
Government can't evade responsibility: Court
The HC bench of Chief Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Ashutosh J Shastri slammed the chief secretary, saying the "largesse of the state" was granted without floating any tender. It held the municipality responsible for the tragedy and said the civic body had "defaulted." Refusing to let the authorities pass the buck to the private agency, the bench said the government can't evade responsibility.
State needs to deal with these points: Court
...would not carry out repair works. Yet the contractor maintained the bridge and even received revenue from the visitors of the bridge. The bridge was closed on March 8, 2022 till October 25, 2022.
— Bar Bench (@barandbench) November 15, 2022
Contract just one and a half page long: Court
The court questioned how the agreement for such an important work could be completed in just "one and a half pages." The Rajkot collector and Oreva entered a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in 2008 for the bridge's maintenance and operations for nine years, the court noted. Despite no renewal agreement being signed after June 2017, the bridge was still operated by the same firm.
Oreva Group subcontracted renovation work to another firm
Oreva Group is reported to be granted the bridge maintenance and operation contract despite having no relevant experience. The group further subcontracted the repair work or the "technical aspect of the bridge renovation" to an unknown company called Devprakash Solutions.
Oreva Group MD reopened bridge on Gujarati new year
A renovation contract was reportedly signed with Oreva in March 2022, and the agreement stated that the bridge must not be reopened before eight months. However, setting aside public safety, the company's managing director (MD), Jaysukh Patel, rushed to "inaugurate" the bridge to mark the Gujarati new year on October 26, four days before the tragic incident, without taking requisite permissions from the municipality.
