Morbi tragedy: Chief officer of Morbi Nagar Palika suspended

New Delhi, Nov 04: Chief officer of Morbi Nagar Palika Sandipsinh Zala has been suspended following Morbi bridge collapse incident, reported news agency ANI, quoting sources.

The British-era suspension bridge, built on the river Machchhu in Morbi town, had collapsed on Sunday evening. The people who died in the tragedy included women and children. ''The state Urban Development Department has suspended Chief Officer of Morbi Municipality Sandipsinh Zala,'' said Morbi District Collector G T Pandya.

Resident Additional Collector of Morbi has been given the additional charge of the Chief Officer until further orders, he saidas reported by news agency PTI.

Morbi Municipality had given the contract of the bridge repair and maintenance to Oreva group for 15 years, officials said.

Police have so far arrested nine persons in connection with the bridge collapse incident.

On Thursday, the Gujarat government called off the five-day-long search operation launched after the collapse of a British-era suspension bridge on the Machchhu river in Morbi town of Gujarat and the death toll remained unchanged at 135.

State Commissioner of Relief Harshad Patel visited Morbi, located around 300 km from the state capital Gandhinagar, and announced the end of the ongoing search operation, launched on Sunday evening soon after the suspension bridge came crashing down, said an official release.

Patel chaired a meeting with heads of various agencies involved in the search and rescue operation and took a call to end the operation after reviewing the situation, it said.