Civic Chief Suspended In Bridge Collapse Tragedy In Morbi

People who died in the tragedy included women and children…

Morbi, Gujarat: On Friday, 04 November 2022, The Gujarat government suspended Morbi Municipality's Chief Officer Sandipsinh Zala in the wake of the bridge collapse incident that claimed 135 lives, a senior official said.

The British-era suspension bridge, built on the river Machchhu in Gujarat's Morbi town, had collapsed on Sunday evening. The people who died in the tragedy mostly included women and children.

"The state Urban Development Department has suspended Chief Officer of Morbi Municipality Sandipsinh Zala," said Morbi District Collector GT Pandya.

The Resident Additional Collector of Morbi has been given the additional charge of the Chief Officer until further orders, he said.

Morbi Municipality had given the contract of the bridge repair and maintenance to Oreva group for 15 years, officials said.

Police have so far arrested nine persons in connection with the massive bridge collapse incident.

There were multiple lapses such as no safety audit of the metal bridge, no audit of the structure’s load bearing capacity and the contractor roped in to carry out the repairs and renovations of the 140-year-old British era bridge was not qualified for the job, the Morbi Police told a local court seeking custody of the nine accused, who were arrested on October 31.

The police, in their remand application, also submitted that many of the cables of the bridge were very rusty and yet not replaced while the material used for the renovation was of low quality, leaving the bridge vulnerable when it was hurriedly reopened without the civic body’s approval.