The police have stated the company failed to hold out a high quality examine earlier than opening the bridge.

Morbi:

Three days after a century-old bridge collapsed in Gujarat’s Morbi, killing 135 folks, the homeowners of the corporate blamed for poor renovation work stay lacking.

Two managers of the Oreva Group and two sub-contractors who had repaired the bridge have been despatched to police custody until Saturday. Five different arrested males, together with safety guards and ticket reserving clerks, are in judicial custody.

A district lawyer’s physique has refused to characterize any of the accused, in a mirrored image of rising public anger.

The contractors who carried out the bridge repairs weren’t certified for such work, the prosecution informed a court docket on Tuesday. “Despite that, these contractors were given repair work of the bridge in 2007 and then in 2022,” the prosecutor stated.

The flooring of the bridge was changed however its 150-year-old previous cables weren’t. The cables couldn’t take the load of the brand new flooring and snapped, stated the prosecution, citing a forensic report. The weight of the bridge had elevated on account of four-layered aluminum sheets used within the flooring and the cables could not assist it.

Oreva allegedly outsourced the work o a little-known contractor.

Oreva’s Managing Director Jaysukhbhai Patel, who had publicly claimed that the renovated bridge will maintain up for a minimum of eight to 10 years, has not been seen because the tragedy, locals have informed NDTV. The Oreva firm’s farmhouse in Ahmedabad is locked and deserted, with not even a safety guard in sight.

Mr Patel was final seen, alongside along with his household, on the reopening of the bridge on October 26.

He had signed the contract with the Morbi municipal company. The Oreva firm, a watchmaker, bagged a 15-year deal to take care of the bridge in March and reopened it seven months later – earlier than schedule. The Morbi municipal physique allegedly awarded the contract to Oreva with out a bidding course of.

The survivors of the tragedy and the opposition have questioned why the police FIR does not title both the highest bosses of Oreva or the civic officers who signed the contract regardless of obvious gaps.

48 hours after the Morbi tragedy, why is the Gujarat authorities and the BJP not answering primary questions?

Why had been the homeowners of the Oreva firm and the municipal authorities not named
within the FIR?

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) November 1, 2022

The settlement didn’t even point out any requirement of a health certificates earlier than the bridge was opened to the general public.

Opposition events and locals have accused the state authorities of sparing the primary accused and making scapegoats out of safety guards, ticket sellers and decrease degree staff of Oreva.

The police have stated the company failed to hold out a high quality examine earlier than opening the bridge to the general public on October 26 – the day the Gujarati New Year was celebrated – displaying extreme carelessness.