'Wilful fraud, not will of God': Priyanka Chaturvedi's jibe over Morbi bridge collapse
As the role of Oreva, the maintenance company of the Morbi cable bridge, is on the radar, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said the tragedy is a wilful fraud.
Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi reacted to the government's submission to the court over the Morbi bridge collapse that took the lives of 135 people and questioned whether it was the will of God or wilful fraud. She cited a report which quoted Deepak Parekh, one of the managers of the Oreva company which was responsible for the maintenance of the bridge, as saying that the unfortunate incident was the 'will of God'. Morbi bridge collapse: 'Contractors unqualified; new flooring was heavy' | 10 points
The prosecution on Tuesday told the court that the contractors who carried out repairs of the bridge were not qualified for such a job. It also submitted in the court that while the floor of the bridge was replaced, the cable was not repaired and it could not take the weight of the heavier flooring of four-layers aluminium sheets.
Four of the nine arrested -- two managers of the Oreva company and two sub-contractors who had repaired the bridge -- were sent to police custody. The other five, including security guards and ticket booking clerks, have been sent to judicial custody.
The roles of the Oreva Group and the municipal authorities have come on the radar as it has been revealed that the Oreva Group makes wall clocks and e-bikes. However, the municipal authorities entrusted the maintenance work of the bridge to this company.
The bridge was thrown open for the public on October 26 and the Oreva group claimed that they had roped in experts for the repair work of the bridge. Morbi municipality chief officer Sandipsinh Zala claimed the corporate house had not acquired any clearance certificate from the civic body before inaugurating the bridge.
Jaysukh Patel is the managing director of Oreva.
"So it was the Will of God the contractor did not repair/replace the rusted cable, the contractors were not qualified engineers, one of the managers overseeing the bridge contract was not an engineer but a media manager in the company. This is wilful fraud, not will of god," Priyanka Chaturvedi wrote.
