Work on the metro casting yard at Muttom near Aluva came to a halt for the second consecutive day on Wednesday with a section of land owners, who have surrendered land for the site, staging a protest at the project site.
According to officials, a group of protesters, who had marched to the site, threatened that no work would be allowed till their grievances were addressed and demanded a time-bound release of compensation for the land taken over for the project. Of the 53 acres of land acquired for the project, the authorities are yet to provide compensation for 10 acres of land, where land filling activities are in progress.
Commenting on the issue, officials with the metro rail authority said that works could not be resumed until the issue was settled. “All the works progressing at the site including earth filling, piling and road construction have come to a standstill following the protests and we are in constant touch with the authorities to sort out the issue as early as possible”, said a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation official. Meanwhile, district administration officials maintained that compensation for land owners would be released by next Tuesday.
Steel frame tiltsMeanwhile, on Wednesday, the main steel frame of a metro rail pillar under construction near Judges Avenue in Kaloor, suffered a minor tilt following the disintegration of its concrete mix. Officials said the concrete mix within the frame was washed away after the steel plates erected at its sides moved apart. Though the heavy structure made of iron pipes bent to one side, it did not collapse. Meanwhile, officials of the DMRC said that there was no need for any apprehensions on its safety as the defect could be rectified soon. About four months ago, a heavy steel frame structure erected for constructing a concrete pillar had collapsed.
