Morbi Bridge Collapse: PIL In Supreme Court Seeks Judicial Commission Probe Into The Incident
(Judicial Quest News Network)
A Lawyer filed a PIL in Supreme Court seeking a Judicial Commission probe in Gujarat’s Morbi District Accident which claimed 137 innocent lives due to the utter negligence of the authorities.
A 143-old-cable suspension bridge over the Machchuu River collapsed after it was re-opened just last week following repairs and maintenance by a private operator, the Oreva Group.
In the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) Petition, Advocate Vishal Tiwari said that the accident leading to the collapse of the bridge utterly depicts the negligence and failure of the government authorities.
From past decade various incidents have taken place in our country wherein due to the mismanagement, lapse in duty, negligent maintenance activities, there have been cases of huge public casualties which could have been avoided yet due to such arbitrary and undone actions have led to such work. The plea said.
The matter was mentioned before the (CJI) UU Lalit on Tuesday by Tiwari.
“You are very quick. What are your prayers”. The CJI asked.
“I am seeking a judicial enquiry commission” Tiwari responded.
On October, 30, the Morbi Bridge collapsed in Gujarat.
The petitioner pointed that at the time of collapse,
The petitioner further submitted that apart from the failure of maintaining and administering the supervision, the authorities have also failed in controlling the tourists who were there to visit the bridge, it had been reported that more than 500 people were on the bridge during the snap of wire which is absolutely over limit yet there were no supervision to control and regulate such crowd although knowing the limited capacity of the bridge.
The local municipal has reported to the Media that the renovator of the bridge had not taken a safety certificate before reopening the bridge which shows the utter negligence and lapse on the part of private operator with no supervision and administration from the government authorities.
Such shows no concern for human life and it is an utter dreadful act of violation of human rights that is the breach of right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. The plea said
According to the plea the local municipal authorities has reported to the Media that the renovator of the bridge had not taken a safety certificate before reopening the bridge which shows the utter negligence and lapse on the part of private operator with no supervision and administration from the government authorities.
The Gujarat government has formed a 5 member committee to investigate the situation and identify any flaws in the bridge’s repair and renovation. Gandhinagar Forensic Lab experts have taken samples of the renovation materials and are expected to the committee in a few days.
The petitioner also requested that directions be issued to all States to from committees to conduct risk assessment of all old and risky monuments, bridges etc.to ensure safety and environmental viability.
Lastly the petitioner sought formation of a Construction Incident Investigation Department for conducting prompt investigation in such cases such as this one.
The CJI directed that the matter be listed on November 14.
