AHMEDABAD: Morbi Nagar Palika Nigam on Thursday squarely blamed the Ajanta Manufacturing Ltd (Oreva group) for the October 30 bridge collapse.   Morbi Nagar Palika said, it not only opened the bridge for the public without approval, but also without scientific testing of its sustainability and fitness.

The accusations were made in an affidavit submitted to the Gujarat High Court by Chief Officer Naran Muchhar, who is in charge of the Morbi Nagar Palika.

Around 140 persons, including 51 children, were killed in the horrific tragedy, and the Gujarat High Court thereafter opened a suo motu case in the matter.

The company "reopened the Suspension Bridge for public use on October 26, 2022, without any prior approval, and that too, without informing Morbi Nagar Palika about the type of repair work which was allegedly carried out by the company as well as without providing any independent third party's certificate/s relating to material testing, fitness, holding capacity, and structure stability of the said Suspension Bridge," the officer said.

Even though the aforesaid MoU's term ended on August 15, 2017, the Company continued to maintain and administer the Suspension Bridge in the absence of a new agreement.

He said, "According to the new agreement between Morbi Nagar Palika and the Oreva group, signed on March 8, Ajanta is entirely responsible for looking after all the administration functions, including the hiring of staff, cleanliness, maintenance, ticket booking, collection, and expense accounts, without any interference from the Nagar Palika, Corporation, or any other governmental agency.

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