Morbi tragedy: BJP councillors urge CM not to dissolve civic body

Ahmedabad: Even as ruling BJP captured the Morbi seat in the recent poll, the October 30 pedestrian bridge collapse continues to haunt it with party councillors from the town pleading with Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel not to supersede the Morbi Municipality over the tragedy that had left 141 people dead.

The request has come in the context of the State Government’s undertaking to the Gujarat High Court on December 13 that it would supersede the municipality, which had awarded the maintenance contract of the colonial-era suspension bridge to a private firm without the approval of the General Board of the civic body. A General Board of a municipality is similar to the State Assembly and any project over a certain amount need its approval.

The BJP won all the 52 seats in the Morbi Municipality during the local body election in February 2021, and 49 of them have in a letter urged the CM not to dissolve the municipality. Devabhai Ava­d­i­ya, one of the councillors and a signatory, said, “The agreement between the Oreva group and the municipality was inked without the knowledge of the elected civic body. The chief officer (Sandeepsinh Jhala) unilaterally took the decision and none of us was aware.”