HC slams Morbi civic body for ‘dereliction’

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court on Thursday came down heavily on the state government for providing inadequate compensation to the families of the victims of the bridge collapse in Morbi town even as it observed that the civic authority chief “was prima facie guilty of dereliction of duty”.

On October 30, a colonial-era bridge on the Machchu river collapsed, killing 141 people. The tragedy took place just days after the bridge was reopened for the public following seven months of renovation.

The state government have announced ₹4 lakh as compensation to the families of those who died in the accident, ₹50,000 to those who were injured and ₹3,000 per month to children who have lost their par

THE COURT ALSO TERMED AS ‘ABYSMALLY’ LOW THE AID BY GUJ GOVT TO THE FAMILIES OF THOSE WHO DIED IN THE ACCIDENT THAT CLAIMED 141 LIVES ON OCTOBER 30

ents.

While hearing a suo motu case, a bench of Chief Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Ashutosh J Shastri said: “A family [of the deceased] should at least get Rs 10 lakhs as compensation,” the high court said on Thursday. “...The compensation proposed to be paid to the family of the deceased and other seriously injured people is concerned, it is abysmally on the lower side. The compensation must be realistic. We hope and trust, this would be raised.”

On the compensation being given to children, the court said that it was insufficient as the amount would get spent in buying books and school uniform only.

The high court also sought details of the break-up of all the amounts received to provide compensation as to how much is from the chief minister’s relief fund, the prime minister’s relief fund, and how much has been donated by private individuals.

It further noted that the Morbi civic body was more interested about the price of tickets and retention of contract than about warnings that the bridge was in a critical condition, as told by private contractor Ajanta.

The contract for renovation of

the bridge was given to Oreva Group, a subsidiary of watchmaker company Ajanta.

Noting that the agreement signed between the Morbi municipality and Ajanta on March 8 had not been approved by the general body of the civic body, the HC asked why did the state government not use its power under Section 263 of the Gujarat Municipality Act to supersede the municipality.

This provision allows the state government to dissolve a civic body in cases of abuse of power among other violations.

“The tenor of the letter sent by the Nagar Palika to the Ajanta on 19/01/2022 indicates concentrates more on the price of the tickets…. Nagar Palika seems to have ignored the warning of the condition of the bridge which had been signaled by the m/s Ajanta (private contractor). Thus, the communications exchanged between the Morbi Nagar Palika and m/s Ajanta is for the retention of the contract by Ajanta rather than bestowing attention to the repair of the bridge, which was in a critical stage,” Live Law quoted the bench as saying.

The bench, however, refrained from making any remark on the state government since it had submitted that it was waiting for the SIT to submit its report on the matter before making a submission.

The court pulled up the state government over inaction against municipality CEO Zala and questioned the government on the action it had taken against him so far. “You do it on your own or we will issue directions,” the Chief Justice remarked when informed by AG Kamal Trivedi that the SIT report was awaited. The court further remarked that proceedings for dereliction of duty can go ahead against him.

The court also pulled up the Morbi Nagar Palika for permitting M/s Ajanta to maintain the bridge between August 2017 and March 2022. The court also directed the state government to conduct a survey of similar bridges and thoroughly check whether they are in the proper condition.

“It is high time that all the officials who are either monitoring, managing, controlling, and administering such bridges across the state should ensure that the bridges in their jurisdiction are in proper condition, and if not, remedial measures should be taken,” the High Court ordered. “How many similar bridges are in Gujarat, the state has to submit a report on this within 10 days.”