Private Renovator Reopened Gujarat Bridge Without Fitness Certificate, 9 Held

The private group of companies that renovated the 150-year-old suspension bridge over Machchhu River, in Morbi district of Gujarat, which collapsed on Sunday killing more than 140 people, was reopened to the public ahead of schedule even as its managing director (MD) had claimed on October 24 that people could enjoy “a carefree adventure” on it for 8-10 years.

With the tragedy becoming a major embarrassment for the Gujarat government and the Centre amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s presence in the state, nine people, including mid-level Oreva employees, were detained, NDTV reported.

According to the contract signed between the Morbi municipal authorities and Ajanta Manufacturing Private Limited, part of the Oreva Group—which manufactures clocks, CFL bulbs and e-bikes—the bridge should have been shut for, at least, 8-12 months for maintenance and repairs.

However, Oreva, which was hired to maintain the colonial-era bridge for 15 years, reopened it ahead of schedule on the Gujarati New Year on October 26, the contract, accessed by NDTV, shows. Besides, the “technical aspect of the renovation” was outsourced to a smaller construction company called Devprakash Solutions.

Moreover, Oreva allegedly started selling Rs 17 entry tickets to the bridge without a fitness certificate from the civic authorities, according to NDTV. Morbi municipal agency chief officer Sandipsinh Zala confirmed to NDTV on Sunday that Oreva did not take a fitness certificate.

Defending the charging of entry fees after reopening the bridge, Oreva MD Jaysukhbhai Patel had said last week, “We’ve just opened the bridge for the public. So, we cannot keep the entry free of charge, and we also don’t want to overwhelm the sturdiness of the bridge. So, to limit the amount of entry and the crowd, we will charge for entry.”

Claiming “100%” renovation was done in “just Rs 2 crore” during a press conference, Patel said, “If people act responsibly without damaging the property, this renovation can sustain for the next 15 years.”

“As we know, the bridge was made during a time when there was not much technical innovation, and only wooden planks and beams were used to make the bridge initially,” Patel said in Gujarati during the presser, which was streamed live by local news portals in Morbi.

As per the contract, Oreva was allowed to raise the ticket price every year till 2037 to maintain the bridge. Around 400-500 tickets were sold on Sunday without controlling the crowd.

“For students and for those coming in big groups, we’ll be giving them discounts with the support of the collector and the president of the Morbi Municipal Corporation. I don’t remember the exact agreement but we’ll be revising the entry fees by Rs 1-Rs 2 every year for the next seven years, Patel added.

Patel also defended the outsourcing of the renovation’s technical aspect to Dev Prakash Solutions as they had “handled part of the repair post-earthquake in 2007”. He added that his company would handle the operation and maintenance while the lighting was assigned to an Ahmedabad-based company “which will start the night light set up soon”.

Out of the 141 dead, 47 were children and the youngest was a two-year-old child. Rajkot Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha member Mohan Kundariya lost 12 of his relatives—five children, four women and three men—in the tragedy. “Four daughters of the brother-in-law of my elder brother, the husbands of three of them and five children were killed in the accident,” Kundariya told the media adding that strict action would be taken against those responsible for the tragedy.

The nine people were arrested after the police registered an FIR on charges of culpable homicide against the Group and agencies given the task of maintaining the bridge, PTI reported.

In the FIR, lodged at Morbi ‘B’ division police station on Sunday night, the police have shown “agencies responsible for maintenance and management of the hanging bridge” as the main accused along with others whose names will emerge during the course of the investigation.

As per the FIR, registered under Sections 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code, the accident occurred because of the “callous approach” of the agencies.

Persons concerned or the agencies did not pay attention to the quality of maintenance as well as repair work of the bridge.
The bridge was opened for tourists by the agency despite knowing that their “callous approach” in the maintenance and management of the bridge may lead to deaths, the FIR stated.