Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 1: The BJP government in Gujarat is facing an embarrassing situation over the contract given for the repairing and maintenance of the Morbi cable bridge which has caused the loss of at least 135 lives including 47 children, to a clock-manufacturing company without an adequate knowledge of engineering works.
Besides that the Oreva Group owned and controlled by the Ajanta Manufacturing Limited which manufacture the world-class wall clocks in the “Ajanta” brand name, has only recently ventured into other activities including bike manufacturing, is also learnt to have sub-contracted the repairing part of the responsibility to an unknown local small construction company, Dev Prakash Solutions.
It could hand over the repairing works to DP Solutions because of a clause in the contract signed between the Morbi Municipality and the company which barred any direct or through its agency any interference of the government in the repairing and maintenance of the cable bridge during the contractual period of 15 years ending in 2037. It was surprising how the municipal chief executive officer could sign a contract of this nature keeping the government at bay.
In addition, the contract was believed to have been awarded to the Oreva Group at the recommendation of a top local BJP leader who was also reportedly kept in the loop when the company brought in the DP Solutions for repairing the 150 year old cable bridge. Owners and key executives of Oreva have disappeared from public view and the company’s sprawling farmhouse lies abandoned, not even a security guard in sight.
Oreva’s Managing Director Jaysukhbhai Patel, who had publicly claimed that the renovated bridge will hold up for at least eight to ten years (it collapsed after four days), has not been seen ever since the tragedy. The group’s corporate office in Ahmedabad has also remained closed since Sunday and none was available on phone either.
Mr Patel had signed the contract with the Morbi municipal corporation and Ajanta Manufacturing Limited — Oreva’s parent company, which is better known as a clock-maker. Nine people – mid-level officials of Oreva, ticket sellers, and security men — were arrested on Sunday under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Opposition parties and even locals have accused the state government of trying to scapegoat lower level people while shielding the top management, who they demand must be held responsible for the accident. The bridge was opened to the public ahead of schedule by five months, apparently to take advantage of the Diwali vacation to make money from the tourists. The Oreva Group did not take a fitness certificate from the civic authorities before opening the bridge nor the local civic body bothered to intervene when Patel announced its re-opening on October 24, two days before the Gujarati New Year day when it was thrown open for the public. The company also charged higher entry fee than the contractual amount which was supposed to be Rs 10 for children and Rs 15 but it levied Rs two extra to each of the visitor.
It also did not bother to restrict entry on the cable bridge which was constructed to take the weight of 125 people. At the time of the accident, there were no less than 400 people on the1.5 metre wide bridge over the Machchhu river which believed to have caused the snapping of cables.
Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi said a criminal case had been registered in connection with the incident. A First Information Report (FIR) has also been filed by the Gujarat Police against private agencies for the attempt to commit culpable homicide and culpable homicide not amounting to murder. But so far the top executives of the defaulting company and all the government officials responsible for the maintenance of public order have been spared.
