Oreva Group, a wall-clock manufacturer, was responsible for maintaining the now collapsed Morbi bridge

The horrific bridge collapse in Gujarat's Morbi that killed at least 130 people is looking more and more like a preventable disaster, with reports now saying that the company that held the maintenance contract - the Oreva Group - was ill-equipped for the task.

Specialising in wall clocks, electric bikes and CFL bulbs, the Oreva Group is a five-decade old operation, founded by Odhavji Raghavji Patel. Reports say that it is not known how the firm managed to land the maintenance contract for a century old bridge.

Oreva's biggest sellers are wall clocks, manufactured under the popular Ajanta and Orpat brands. The Oreva Group was awarded the contract to maintain and manage the bridge by the Morbi municipality in March this year.


The Ajanta Group now manufactures home and electrical appliances, electric lamps, calculators, ceramic products and e-bikes, registering a turnover of Rs 800 crore.

Multiple reports since the collapse say that the recently repaired bridge was opened without a fitness certificate from the necessary authorities.

The suspension bridge - popularly called the 'jhoolta pul' - over the Machchhu river was closed seven months ago for repairs and reopened on Gujarati New Year's Day on October 26.

Shortly after the collapse, a spokesperson for the group said that the bridge collapsed as "too many people in the mid-section of the bridge were trying to sway it from one way to the other."

The Ahmedabad-based group through its flagship firm Ajanta Manufacturing Pvt Ltd is also present in business segments including lighting products, battery-operated bikes, home appliances, electrical accessories and electronic items such as telephones, calculators and LED TVs among others. On its website, the Oreva group claims that it employs over 6,000 people but has no mention of its construction business.

With inputs from PTI