Morbi tragedy: No political fallout, no poll issue; only courts seem concerned

It has been over three weeks since the Morbi bridge collapsed in Gujarat on October 30, claiming over 140 dead, including 47 children, and leaving over 100 injured. But apart from arresting nine persons, including four minor officials of the Oreva group – responsible for operating, maintaining and running the suspension bridge – nothing much seems to have been done though an FIR was registered the very next day.

The matter reached the Supreme Court on November 21. The apex court heard a plea filed by someone who lost his two relatives in the incident. The petitioner sought a CBI probe, award of dignified compensation to those who lost their family members, the need to fix responsibility against officials of the Nagar Palika and that the agency entrusted to maintain the bridge is held accountable.

SC for regular monitoring

The apex court noted that as the Gujarat High Court is already hearing a suo moto case on the same issue, it will not hear the petitions as of now. It also asked the Gujarat High Court to hold periodical hearings in the case.

Also read: Why was operation contract given without floating tender? asks Gujarat HC

“It is an enormous tragedy and this will require weekly monitoring to see the award of contract, credential of the party awarded the contract, attribution of responsibility for those guilty,” observed a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli.

The Gujarat High Court had taken suo moto cognisance of the tragedy and had issued notices to the state government and local authorities to submit a status report. When the report was submitted to the court on November 15, the court came down heavily on the government and local authorities.

The court also noted that “prima facie, the local municipality has defaulted which led to unfortunate incident”, and asked how the “largesse of the state” was granted to a company without floating a tender for such important work.

An agreement was signed between the Oreva group – which makes LED bulbs and other electrical appliances but has no experience in maintaining a bridge – and Morbi municipality on March 8, 2022, to operate, maintain, repair and collect rent for the 140-year-old historic bridge for a period of 15 years.

Largesse of state?

The Division Bench of Chief Justice Arvind Kumar and Justice Ashutosh Shastri lashed out at the authorities and asked the government to how Ajanta Manufacturing Limited, the Oreva Group’s flagship company, had been permitted to maintain the bridge between 2017 and 2022 in the absence of any agreement, after the term of a 2008 agreement on bridge maintenance and repair had ended.

“This (the 2008) agreement with Ajanta (Oreva Group) is one-and-a-quarter pages agreement, absolutely without any conditions. This agreement is by way of an understanding, largesse of the state for ten years, and no tenders floated, no Expression of Interest,” the Division Bench said.

Also read: Gujarat HC seeks status report on Morbi bridge collapse probe

The Bench also observed that the affidavit filed by the Regional Commissioner of Municipalities did not contain the required details and information the court had sought earlier. The court directed the government to secure the entire file relating to the bridge till date and give it to the Registrar (Judicial) in a sealed cover, and sought details of the action taken against the chief officer of the Morbi Municipality. The officer was earlier suspended by the State government.

The court was informed that the State Human Rights Commission had formed a committee to inquire into the tragedy.

As far as the police investigation is concerned, the most glaring has been the fact that Oreva group’s managing director Jaysukh Patel is yet to be called by the police for questioning. The whereabouts of Patel remain a mystery. He has not been seen in public after the tragedy, nor has his company issued any statement regarding it. His offices in Ahmedabad and Morbi remain closed ever since the incident.

Asked about Patel, Morbi superintendent of police (SP) Rahul Tripathi said, “We cannot disclose anything at this point. The investigation in the case is on and we will reveal once it’s over.”

No political fallout

The bridge tragedy though seems to be having no political fallout for the ruling party of the state which is going to elect its new assembly within next two weeks or so. Even the people in Morbi, which had elected a Congress MLA in 2017 who later joined the BJP and won the by-election on the lotus symbol, do not think the bridge collapse will have any political ramifications.

‘The collapse was a will of God,’ seems to be the dominant sentiment in the town, according to media reports. “Tragedy-stricken Morbi has no faith in its politicians, no hope of succour or change from the upcoming Gujarat elections. So, it’s seeking solace in superstition,” says a Telegraph report quoting local people who feel that Morbi is “cursed” and there’s no reason to blame the leaders for it.

The BJP candidate from Morbi constituency, Kantilal Amrutiya, who was seen jumping into the Machchhu river to rescue people following the bridge collapse, seems to knows this.

Also read: Morbi bridge tragedy exposed BJPs misgovernance in Gujarat: Ashok Gehlot

On being asked whether there was any resentment among the public regarding the incident, he said “There are five seats in Morbi and we will win all five of them because there is regard in the hearts of the people. The public knows that the government is not responsible for the incident.”

This lack of accountability that the political leaders seem to enjoy in Morbi speaks volumes about the rot in the system and society where even over 140 deaths fail to stir the conscience of the people. And where the courts have to take suo moto cognisance of such issues to force the authorities to come out with some response.