The Hindu : New Delhi News : Metro blames contractor for Laxmi Nagar mishap

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Metro blames contractor for Laxmi Nagar mishap

Staff Reporter

“The blackest day in the 11 years of Delhi Metro’s existence”

‘Not a fall-out of the haste to beat deadlines’ To issue notice for blacklisting contractor

NEW DELHI: Pinning the blame for the October 19 mishap at one of its sites in Laxmi Nagar on the contractor, Afcons Infrastructure Limited, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation on Tuesday said the tragedy was a consequence of “omission” by the building company.

Releasing the findings of the high-level technical committee constituted to inquire into the collapse of a girder that led to the death of two persons, DMRC Managing Director E. Sreedharan said the accident was a result of “omission and carelessness on the part of the contractor’s workers”.

“October 19 is the blackest day in the 11 years of DMRC’s existence. Though the technical responsibility rests with the contractor, DMRC bears the moral responsibility.”

Listing the reasons for the collapse, he said: “During the segment lifting stage, the launching girder is supported on four supports, two in the rear on the completed span and two in front, on two tubular columns. The committee has concluded that the accident was due to the left side front tubular column failing.”

He explained that the tubular column consists of two tubes with telescoping arrangement for obtaining the correct height of the supporting column. There are holes provided in the outer tube and inner tube and these two tubes are locked in position by inserting 100 mm steel pins through pre-drilled holes.

“To carry the desired weight on the supporting column, a minimum of ten pins are required to be inserted. The evidence at the site showed that not more than four pins were inserted as against ten. It was also found that the holes of the outer tube which should match precisely with the holes of the inner tube for insertion of the pins were enlarged by gas-cutting, making differential loads being taken by each pin,” he added.

Dr. Sreedharan said the accident was a result of the negligence to insert a minimum of ten pins for each column and making the pins ineffective by enlarging the matching holes of the outer tube.

The DMRC head refuted allegations that the accident was a fall-out of the Corporation’s “haste to beat deadlines”.

“For us, building 125 km in four and a half years is not difficult, our strategy is different. We have about seven chief project managers for the works, we have funds and the organisation has been expanded,” he said, drawing comparisons with Konkan Railway, wherein he covered 760 km in seven years.

While the report of the committee will now be submitted to both the Union and State governments, the DMRC for its part has decided to issue a show-cause notice for blacklisting the contractor. Meanwhile, the contractor will be allowed to complete the ongoing work assigned to it on the Delhi Airport and Vishwavidyalaya-Jehangirpuri lines.

“Changing the contractor at this time will mean losing at least a couple of months. We cannot afford the delay,” Dr. Sreedharan said.

Allaying fears of a similar mishap occurring in future, he said: “We have prepared a checklist of all the things that DMRC and contractors will have to verify. We will also have a three-tier safety mechanism.”

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