The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday ordered the Oreva group to pay Rs 10 lakh in compensation to each victim’s kin and Rs 2 lakh in compensation to the injured, and ordered the company to deposit Rs 5 crore within four weeks.
On the evening of October 30, 135 visitors, including 35 children, were killed when the suspension bridge over the Machchu River in Morbi town collapsed. The repair and maintenance contract of the bridge was awarded to the Oreva group, which, without getting a fitness certificate and without Morbi Nagarpalika’s approval, opened the bridge for visitors.
The first division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sonia Gokani and Justice Sandeep Bhatt, while directing to pay Rs 10 lakh to each victim’s kin, cited the Supreme Court’s observation for compensation in such tragedies:
