Show-cause notice on bridge collapse : In unanimous resolution, Morbi civic body urges govt to return documents seized by SIT

The BJP-ruled civic body also requested the state government not to take any decision in the matter of dissolving the municipality board till it sends its reply.

Kusum Parmar, president of the Morbi municipality, presided over a special meeting of the general board on Monday to discuss and decide the municipality’s response to the show-cause notice issued by the state government on January 18.

In its notice, the urban development and urban housing department of the state government had observed that the Morbi municipality had “failed” to discharge its duties with respect to Jhulto Pul bridge and that its general board was “incapable and incompetent” to perform its duties.

The notice asked the municipality to explain why its general board should not be dissolved. The notice also asked the president to send her response to the government in the form of a general board resolution by January 25.

“The records on the basis of which municipality’s responsibilities are sought to be fixed were impounded by the government-appointed SIT. It is unanimously resolved to seek from the government documents and records relevant to the notice,” reads the resolution moved by Jayrajsingh Jadeja, the vice-president of the municipality.

The resolution also stated that the municipality will respond to the government’s show-cause notice once it gets the relevant documents from the SIT. The five-member SIT comprised engineering experts and officers of the urban development department as well as state police.

In the 52-member general board meeting, 39 councilors, including the president, were present. Notably, there is no Opposition party in the Morbi municipality as the BJP had won all the 52 seats in the election held in February 2021. Iin the morning, the councilors went into a huddle at a meeting held at the office of BJP’s Morbi town unit to discuss the issue

“Documents and evidence relevant to the questions asked by the government are in the custody of the SIT. Therefore, the municipality has requested the government to return the documents and evidence which belong to the municipality. Once this is done, the Morbi municipality will submit its response,” Jadeja told media persons after the meeting.

When asked what documents the municipality wanted to get back from the government, the vice-president didn’t give a direct reply.

“Our matter doesn’t deal with only one question. It has to do with a number of questions. We are obliged to answer all those questions. Secondly, we have to give a proper answer with respect to the direction given by the (Gujarat) High Court to the state government. It can’t be done casually. It won’t be appropriate on our part to respond without due diligence,” said Jadeja.

When pointed out that the state government had termed the elected body “incompetent and incapable” and asked why that matter was not discussed at the meeting, the vice-president said, “We will give detailed answers to all (the questions), we are duty-bound to do that. But we don’t have the main evidence in our custody and it will be irresponsible on our part to talk without relevant supporting documents.”

In the show-cause notice, the government had underlined that the municipality failed to take appropriate action despite repeated warnings by OREVA Group about the dilapidated condition of the bridge. The notice also pointed out that the chief officer of Morbi municipality signed an agreement with OREVA Group and handed over the bridge to the private firm for operations and maintenance without the approval of the general board.