At least 135 folks misplaced their lives and over 180 have been injured on October 30, 2022, when the pedestrian suspension bridge over the Machchhu River in Gujarat’s Morbi district collapsed. The bridge had reopened simply 5 days earlier after present process repairs, which had triggered a protracted closure. Shockingly, the variety of folks on the bridge on the time of the collapse exceeded its official capability of 125 by a major margin.
As per preliminary studies, the bridge was reopened with out acquiring the required certificates of health from the native civic authorities. The chief officer of the municipality, chargeable for overseeing the repairs, confirmed that the personal agency chargeable for the renovations “threw the bridge open to visitors without notifying us, and therefore, we couldn’t get a safety audit of the bridge conducted.”
Utkarsh Dave, a legal lawyer practising within the Gujarat High Court, filed a writ within the Supreme Court, representing victims’ households.
Acting on the Public Interest Litigation, the highest courtroom later issued a set of tips, together with the necessity for an impartial investigation into acts/omissions that may represent legal wrongdoing, the necessity to maintain officers of the Nagar Palika accountable; and the necessity to make sure that the company chargeable for sustaining the bridge and its administration is held accountable, together with making arrests in the course of the investigation.
Dave’s efforts resulted in a rise in compensation supplied by the federal government, with Ajanta Manufacturing Ltd. (Oreva Group) providing to pay extra compensation to the households of those that died or have been injured. Dave filed numerous paperwork in courtroom, resulting in a directive from the Gujarat High Court ordering the Oreva Group to pay an interim compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of every deceased and Rs 2 lakh to every injured inside 4 weeks. The courtroom additionally famous that the corporate had supplied to take duty for seven youngsters orphaned within the tragedy.
“This fight is not merely about compensation. I haven’t taken a penny from anyone for this PIL. It’s not about the money, but about uncovering the truth. How was the tender awarded to a company without a bridge maintenance certificate or other required documents?” Utkarsh Dave stated.Â
