The special investigation team (SIT), which was established to investigate the Morbi bridge collapse tragedy on October 30 of last year, which claimed the lives of 135 people, has submitted a damning report to the Gujarat high court highlighting administrative and technical errors and omissions on the part of numerous stakeholders which ultimately resulted in the deaths of innocent people.
SIT has questioned the legitimacy of the maintenance contract for the Morbi suspension bridge, claiming that the chief officer of the Morbi municipality should not have signed the contract without first getting the general board's consent.
The SIT report indicated that 22 out of 49 cables or nearly half of the cables that suspended the Morbi bridge were in highly corroded condition.
In its preliminary report, the SIT cites provisions of section 65(3) of the Gujarat Municipality Act to assert that any contract that is to be executed after the current financial year requires prior approval of the general body. Here, the contract was for a period of 15 years. "The general board's prior consent was required before the chief officer could sign the contract. The increase in user fees was rejected at the prior meeting. Despite this, the chief officer nonetheless agreed to a condition that allowed for rate increases,” according to the report.
Besides chief officer Sandipsinh Zala, the SIT also pointed out the lapse by the municipality’s president, vice president and the chairman of the executive committee. The three office bearers of the municipality confirmed the agreement by signing the ‘Rojkam’ on the same day.”