Bridge collapse: Morbi admin hides Oreva hoarding forward of PM Modi’s go to

The native administration of Morbi coated a hoarding that talked about Oreva – the corporate chargeable for managing the suspension bridge – forward of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s go to to the accident website on Tuesday. Ahmedabad-based Oreva Group had signed a 15-year contract with the Morbi municipality for the operation and upkeep of the suspension bridge, which collapsed on Sunday killing 135 individuals and leaving many injured. 

The bridge collapsed simply 4 days after its renovation by the corporate, elevating questions on the administration and Oreva – which is greatest identified for making wall clock by the title of Ajanta.    

In the present day, Prime Minister Modi visited the incident website in Morbi. However forward of his go to, the native administration hid the board of Oreva hanging on one of many towers. The administration put a white fabric to cowl the title of the corporate, which is on the heart of the storm. 

Not solely this, the administration additionally tried to restore the roads resulting in the accident website and Morbi Civil Hospital, the place scores of injured sufferers had been admitted. PM Modi was scheduled to go to the location and the hospital on Tuesday. A number of photos of staff working late night to place tiles and color the partitions of the civil hospital went viral on social media on Monday. 

Additionally Learn: ‘Why was Morbi bridge contract given to a watch firm,’ asks Arvind Kejriwal
 

The opposition events like Congress and AAP shared photos of the in a single day makeover of the hospital. In a tweet in Hindi, the Congress referred to as the makeover an “occasion of tragedy”. “Tomorrow, PM Modi will go to the civil hospital in Morbi. Earlier than that, the work of dyeing and portray is happening there. Glazed tiles are being put in. There must be no weak factors in PM Modi’s picture, all preparations are being made for it. They aren’t ashamed! So many individuals died and they’re engaged in eventing,” the social gathering mentioned.  

Earlier at the moment, forward of PM Modi’s go to, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal focused the state authorities asking why a watchmaker was given the contract for the maintenance of a suspension bridge. 

Stories say that Oreva had signed an settlement in March this yr and was given a deadline of 8-12 months to finish the renovation of the bridge. Nonetheless, the corporate opened the bridge to the general public 5 months earlier than the deadline. 

Morbi Municipality Chief Officer Sandipsinh Zala on Sunday mentioned the corporate had not acquired any clearance certificates from the civic physique earlier than inaugurating the bridge. He mentioned the hanging bridge was handed over to the Oreva Group for renovation. 

The bridge was not in use for over six months on account of restore work. On October 26, Zala mentioned the corporate inaugurated it with out informing the Morbi municipality. “They (Oreva) didn’t purchase any clearance certificates from us earlier than reopening the bridge for the general public,” Zala was quoted as saying by PTI. 

(With inputs from Ashutosh Mishra)