The Gujarat High Court recently said that public places in the state had “been kept unsafe for human lives because of dereliction in discharge of duties or inaction” on the part of municipal officials.

“Dereliction of duties on the part of the municipal commissioners…have become evident with the unfortunate incidents such as Morbi Bridge collapse, Harni lake boat tragedy and Rajkot TRP gaming zone fire incident,” the court said in an order passed on Thursday.

The court also directed the Gujarat government to conduct an inquiry into the workings of municipal corporations in light of these events. The court was hearing a suo motu case pertaining to a fire that broke out on the evening of May 25 at a temporary structure at the TRP Game Zone in Gujarat’s Rajkot, killing 33 people including nine children.

Earlier this year, on January 18, at least 12 schoolchildren and two teachers died after a boat overturned in Harni lake on the outskirts of Gujarat’s Vadodara. The police said that while the boat could carry 16 passengers, it had 34 occupants, including 30 students and four teachers.

In October 2022, a colonial-era bridge on the Machchu river in Morbi collapsed, killing 141 persons. This happened four days after the bridge was reopened for the public following seven months of renovation. An investigation found several lapses in the repairs, maintenance and operation of the bridge.

The role of the local civic bodies came under the scanner in all the cases.

“These repeated incidents show that public places managed by the Corporations and the places of amusement where footfall of public is to a large extent, have been kept unsafe for human lives, because of dereliction in discharge of duties or inaction of the head of the institution,” the court noted last week.

The court also directed that a fact-finding committee be established to investigate the TRP Game Zone incident and identify the inaction of senior officers in the Rajkot Municipal Corporation that led to it.

The role of all municipal commissioners who served in the corporation from “the first date when the first pillar was installed of the TRP Gaming Zone, till the date when the tragic incident of fire has occurred” will be examined.

The state government “shall not spare anyone found guilty or being irresponsible”, the court added, entrusting the investigation to the principal secretary of the state urban development department, who has been asked to submit the findings on July 4, the next date of hearing.