Morbi bridge collapse: Renovation company booked

The police on Monday arrested nine persons, including four officials of Oreva group, the company that renovated the bridge and opened it for public on October 26 days, four days before it collapsed on Sunday.Among those arrested are two ticket clerks and two managers from Oreva group, said Ashok Yadav, IG Rajkot Range at a press conference at Morbi.

134 people died and about 66 people were injured due to the collapse of the suspension bridge over the Morbi Macchu river on Sunday.The state government has constituted a five-member committee to probe the bridge collapse incident. Earlier in the day, Gujarat police filed an FIR under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of Indian Penal Code in the matter.

The Morbi municipality in March this year engaged private firm, Oreva Group, for the maintenance, operation and security of the bridge for the next 15 years. Chief officer of the municipality Sandeep Sinh Jhala said the bridge was reopened without informing the authorities. “We have no idea whether the fitness certificate was issued to the company for re-opening the bridge or not,” Sandeep Sinh Jhala, chief officer for Morbi municipality said on Saturday. Jhala also said authorities have no information on the kind of material used during the renovation. 

Oreva was charging ₹17 for adults and ₹12 for those under the age of 12 to enter the bridge, but at least some eyewitnesses say there may have been a significant number of people who got onto the bridge without tickets. The Oreva Group is the flagship company for Ajanta , the world’s biggest wall clock manufacturer. The group’s brands—Ajanta, Orpat and Oreva—are sold in over 40 countries.