Morbi bridge collapse: Submit Action Taken Report in aftermath, HC to Guj govt

The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday directed the state government to submit a report on the action taken against the officebearers of Morbi municipality as the SIT highlighted lapses in the aftermath of the collapse of a bridge in October 2022 which killed 135 peopleThe division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi noted the government has not yet submitted an Action Taken Report ATR after a Special Investigation Team SIT highlighted lapses by officebearers of Morbi Nagarpalika including its thenchief officerMeanwhile a man who lost two relatives in the bridge collapse has moved the HC seeking its direction for repairing and restoring the heritage Britishera structure and directives for individualised compensationWhile hearing a suo motu PIL Chief Justice Agarwal noted that the state government has yet to submit an ATR following the SIT findings on lapses by Morbi Nagarpalika officebearers including its then chief officer The SITs final report was submitted on October 9 2023Chief Justice Agarwal said the government should file an ATR against erring persons as the SIT highlighted inaction on their partWhen questioned about the actions taken based on the SIT report Advocate General Kamal Trivedi assured the court that the ATR would be presented soon The court had previously directed the government to submit this report especially highlighting the lapses identified by the SITThe court also addressed the Oreva Groups compensation and rehabilitation proposal which includes a monthly payment of Rs 12000 to every surviving victim and the kin of deceased victims Additionally the group agreed to cover educational expenses for orphaned children or those who lost a parent The court instructed the Oreva Groups trust to establish a mechanism to implement these paymentsChief Justice Agarwal said that the government should file a report on the action taken against erring persons especially as the SIT cited inaction on their partWhat method have you worked out to make this payment the court asked before directing the trust to work out a mechanismThe Britishera suspension bridge on the Machchhu river in Morbi town collapsed on October 30 2022 killing 135 persons including several women and children and injuring 56 othersDilip Chavda in an affidavit submitted to Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal urged that the repair and restoration of the bridge be undertaken by a technical team from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways The affidavit was part of a suo motu PIL concerning the Morbi bridge collapseChavda demanded that the cost of repairs be borne by the Oreva Group responsible for the bridges operation and maintenance as well as state authorities including the district administration and Morbi municipality He argued that the bridge a public asset should not have been managed as private propertyThe Morbi bridge was a property of the public at large and was not a private property of either of the concerned respondents that they could deal with it in a manner of their choice The concerned respondents are absolutely liable for the operation and maintenance of the bridge the plea statedFurthermore Chavda sought court directives for individualised compensation suggesting Rs 2 crore for each deceaseds kin Rs 50 lakh for victims with permanent disabilities and Rs 20 lakh for those injured He criticised the current uniform compensation approachTen individuals including Oreva Group CMD Jaysukh Patel two managers subcontractors security guards and ticket booking clerks have been arrested and charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including culpable homicide not amounting to murderThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever