AHMEDABAD: Five Days after the British-era Morbi suspension Bridge collapsed in Gujarat’s Morbi district killing 135 people, the Chief officer (CO) of Morbi municipality Sandeepsinh Zala, who had admitted that the bridge was reopened without a fitness certificate, was suspended on Friday, Said Government officials.
Police have so far arrested nine persons including two managers of Oreva Group, two contractors hired by it, two ticket booking clerks and three security guards posted at the bridge in connection with the bridge collapse incident.
"The state Urban Development Department has suspended Chief Officer of Morbi Municipality Sandipsinh Zala," said Morbi District Collector G T Pandya.
Resident Additional Collector of Morbi has been given the additional charge of the Chief Officer until further orders, he said.
The investigation reached the doorstep of government officials in the Morbi bridge collapse on October 30, Government officials started to investigate officials’ roles and contract owners.
On November 2, Sandeepsinh Zala was questioned by the police for several hours even as investigators said that the private contractors engaged by Oreva Group did not conduct any “scientific assessment of structural stability” of the bridge during its repair and renovation.
Zala had said that the bridge was a property of the Morbi municipality but had handed it over to Oreva Group earlier this year for maintenance and operations for a duration of 15 years.
He had blamed the company for reopening the bridge without notifying the municipality and without a fitness certificate.
The police have so far found that the renovation was undertaken without any structural stability assessment and that the contractor hired by Oreva to do the repairs was technically unqualified.
Meanwhile, some police personnel who went to the Oreva Group returned after the office was locked, on Thursday morning. The police sources claimed that the visit was to cross-check some allegations made by the nine staff members of the company who have been arrested so far.
At the same time, the officials also said that there were many allegations of mismanagement against Morbi civil hospitals. Due to this Civil Hospital Superintendent, Dr. P.K. Dudhrejia was also relieved from the civil hospital and the Dean of the medical college Dr Niraj Bishvav was given the charge.