Morbi tragedy: New, heavier flooring but cable old, says prosecutor

HS Panchal cites Forensic Science Laboratory report

Modi visits the site of the suspension bridge collapse in Morbi town in Gujarat  on Tuesday.: Reuters

PTI   |   Morbi (Gujarat)   |   02.11.22 :  The contractors who carried out repairs of the suspension bridge at Morbi were not qualified to carry out such a job, the prosecution told a court here on Tuesday.

The flooring of the bridge was replaced but not its cable, and it could not take the weight of the changed flooring, said the prosecution, citing a forensic report.

Citing the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report, prosecutor H.S. Panchal told the court that forensic experts believed that the main cable of the bridge snapped because of the weight of the new flooring.

“Though the FSL report was presented in a sealed cover, it was mentioned during the remand plea that cables of the bridge were not replaced during the renovation and only flooring was changed.…  Weight of the bridge increased due to the four-layered aluminium sheets for the flooring and the cable snapped due to that weight,” Panchal told reporters.

The court was also informed that both the repairing contractors were “not qualified” to carry out such a work. “Despite that, these contractors were given repair work of the bridge in 2007 and then in 2022. So the custody of the accused was needed to find out the reason for choosing them and at whose instance they were chosen,” the prosecutor said.

Chief Judicial Magistrate M.J. Khan remanded four of the accused — two managers of Oreva Group and two sub-contractors who had repaired the bridge — in police custody till Saturday.

Five other arrested, including security guards and ticket booking clerks, were remanded in judicial custody as the police did not seek their custody, said prosecutor Panchal.