Gujarat: Govt supersedes Morbi municipality 5 months after bridge tragedy

Months after a suspension bridge collapsed in Morbi town of Gujarat killing 135 people, the state government on Tuesday (April 11) superseded the town’s municipality, said an official.

“The state government has superseded the Morbi municipality,” Morbi district collector G T Pandya told PTI.

The civic body was controlled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which rules in the state too.

Also read: Morbi bridge crash: Gujarat govt opposes interim bail plea of Oreva Group promoter

The suspension bridge on the Machchhu river in Morbi town collapsed on October 30, 2022, killing 135 persons. The bridge was maintained and operated by Oreva Group under an agreement signed with the municipality.

In January, the state Urban Development Department had issued a show-cause notice to the municipality asking why it should not be dissolved for failing to discharge its duties.

Municipality did not heed warnings about bridge’s dilapidated condition

According to the government, the Oreva Group had written several letters to the municipality between 2018 and 2020 warning that the condition of the bridge was dilapidated and a serious accident might happen if the bridge remained open to the public.
The civic body did not heed these warnings by the company, the show-cause notice claimed.

The municipality also did not take any concrete action to take over the bridge from the company in 2017 after the completion of the contract, it said.

SIT findings reveal several lapses by Oreva Group

The notice also cited the findings of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to state that Oreva Group committed several lapses in repair, maintenance, and operation of the bridge.

The municipality, in its reply to the notice, pleaded innocence saying that it had never given approval to hand over the bridge to Oreva Group.

Also read: Corroded wires, welded suspenders led to Morbi bridge tragedy: SIT report

As many as 41 of its 52 councillors submitted a separate reply asserting that the majority of them were not aware of the agreement under which the bridge was handed over to Oreva Group.

All the 52 elected councillors of the Morbi municipality were from the ruling BJP.

(With inputs from agencies)