Ahmedabad: Gujarat government has sent a notice to the Morbi municipal administration in connection with the death of 141 people after the wire of the suspension bridge fell in Morbi, Gujarat. In the notice sent by the state urban development department, the Morbi municipal administration has to give an explanation about the incident by the 25th. It has ordered that it should be like the resolution of the Municipal General Committee. It also questioned why the municipality should not be dissolved for its laxity regarding the bridge at various stages.
Earlier, the Gujarat High Court had taken up the case on its own initiative. In this case, the prosecution in the High Court had stated that it had decided to dissolve the Morbi Municipality. In this case, a notice has been sent to the municipal administration.
The contract to operate Morbi Bridge expired in 2017. Over the period from 2018 to 2020, Oreeva Group has written several letters to Morbi management. It warned about the dilapidated condition of the bridge. It also warned that an accident may occur if the bridge is opened for public use in the existing condition. None of these warnings were heeded by the municipal administration.
Not only that, it has not taken any steps to take over control of the bridge from the company after the deal ended in 2017. The condition of the bridge has been knowingly sloppy. The company also did not seek to hand over the responsibility to the appropriate authority. Neither side has done anything to improve the quality of the bridge.
All this has been revealed in the report of the Special Investigation Committee. Based on that, it is reported that a notice is being sent asking for an explanation as to why Morbi Municipal Administration should not be dissolved. Also there are Oriva Group’s slippages in renovation works. The Gujarat government said in the notice that the Oreeva group did not take care of ticket sales and how many people were allowed on the bridge.
