Gujarat bridge collapse: Despite reports of rusted cables, Oreva manager calls Morbi tragedy 'will of God'

The Gujarat bridge collapse claimed at least 134 lives and left the entire country in shock. Soon after the mishap in Morbi occurred, the company responsible for the repairs and renovation of the bridge came under the scanner, with several employees arrested by the police.

While some managers and employees of the watch-making company were arrested by the police, some representatives of Oreva were also presented in front of the court, issuing a statement to Chief Judicial Magistrate and Additional Senior Civil Judge M J Khan.

Despite reports of ill-managed repairs and rusted cables of the Morbi suspension bridge in Gujarat, the manager responsible for the renovation of the bridge termed the tragic collapse as the “will of God”.

While presenting his statement in front of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Deepak Parekh, one of the managers in Oreva, said, “it was the will of God (Bhagwan ki ichcha) that such an unfortunate event happened”, as per media reports.

Meanwhile, lawyers and experts have stated that the bridge fell because the aluminum base was replaced with a wooden base since it was lighter. It has also been reported that the cables were rusted and were not replaced during the renovations.

A letter issued by Oreva also surfaced on social media and news reports, which was instructing the Morbi authorities to reopen the suspension bridge for the public after only doing temporary repairs.

According to India, Today reports, the Oreva Group had written a letter to the District Collector of Gujarat's Morbi in January 2020, which reads, “We are reopening the suspension bridge by only doing temporary repairs.”

Oreva, which is a watch-making company, was allotted a contract to renovate the Morbi suspension bridge. The bridge had remained closed for seven months and was only reopened four days prior to the mishap which claimed over 130 lives in Gujarat.

The police arrested a total of nine people linked with the Morbi bridge collapse, including Oreva employees, security guards present on the site, and ticket collectors.

READ | DNA Explainer: Know why Oreva is being held responsible for tragic Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat