J S BINDRA Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This writ-petition in the nature of a Public Interest Litigation has been preferred by the petitioners who are residents of city of Surat, bringing to the notice of this Court the decision of the Surat Municipal Corporation to dismantle 134-year-old Hope Bridge named after Theodore Cracraft Hope, a British civil servant in the late 1800s, standing over the river Tapi and which was the only link for almost 90 long years between Surat city and Rander-Hazira Industrial Belt till the new bridge named Nehru Bridge came to be constructed in the year 1966-67 very much adjoining the Hope Bridge.

(2.) According to the petitioners this decision of the Surat Municipal Corporation is not in public interest as Hope Bridge deserves to be preserved as a heritage structure. It is in this background that the petitioners, two of them retired I.P.S. officers who have served as Police Commissioner in the city of Surat and the third petitioner, a retired District Development Officer, have filed this petition with the following prayers :-

(3.) Record reveals that Hope Bridge was constructed in the year 1877 over river Tapi in Surat and was commissioned by the then District Collector and Magistrate of Surat, Theodore Cracraft Hope, a British civil servant of late 1800s. According to the petitioners the Bridge also happens to be first concept of a 'Public-Private Partnership' to speed up infrastructure development in the times of financial crunch. In the year 1866 when the town of Surat was taken over by Britishers, the condition of the Bridge was very poor as no civic facilities were being provided by the Moghul Empire. According to the petitioners, despite being a busy port, the city lacked transportation facility which was ultimately looked into by the Collector late Mr.Hope who found an interesting way to get the development work done by collecting funds from the local bodies in addition to the funds from the Government and the construction of the Bridge commenced in the year 1874 and was completed in the year 1877.