100 per cent renovation done in Rs 2 crores: Firm that repaired Morbi bridge

New Delhi, Oct 31: Oreva company officials said that they had spent Rs 2 crore on the renovation of the 'Morbi pul' that collapsed over the weekend. The cable bridge that collapsed in Gujarat's Morbi was inaugurated days ago.

The firm had claimed on October 26 that it had roped in experts for the repair work, adding that the material used was built as per specifications by "specialised firms".

The hanging bridge, originally built in 1887 by the erstwhile Morbi ruler Vaghji Thakor, was thrown open for the public on October 26 by Oreva Group's Jaysukh Patel and his family in the presence of the media.

Post the collapse, Morbi Municipality Chief Officer Sandipsinh Zala told PTI that the corporate house had not acquired any clearance certificate from the civic body before inaugurating the bridge.

As per documents, the Morbi civic body had entered into an "agreement" with Oreva Group in March this year to maintain and operate the bridge.

The agreement laid down that it was the private group's responsibility to incur the entire cost to repair the bridge and throw it open for the public after "proper renovation", which would take nearly "8 to 12 months".

The agreement also stated the corporate entity will be responsible for the "management" of the bridge, such as O&M, providing security, cleanliness, maintenance, payment collection and deployment of required staff at the bridge for 15 years, that is till 2037.

with PTI inputs