Six persons died Sunday morning when a portion of the elevated Metro rail under construction near Lady Shri Ram College in South Delhi collapsed, bringing down a huge mass of steel and concrete
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation chief E Sreedharan put in his papers, shortly after taking moral responsibility for the accident. But Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit asked him to continue, saying, earlier, Metro ought to be careful
The accident took place on the 20-km Central SecretariatBadarpur line, which runs mostly overground, through crowded residential and commercial areas like Lajpat Nagar, Kailash Colony and Nehru Place
It was working to a deadline of June 2010. But it may not be able to make it in time now
“The delay could be of three or more months,” said Sreedharan, adding, “it would still be ready in time for the Commonwealth games.”
An inquiry has been ordered
The dead were identified as a junior engineer of Gammon India, the engineering firm contracted construction work for this stretch, and five workers
They were among a team of around 30 people at the site, and were about to finish their shift working through the night
Six of them died and 15 were in hospital with injuries
This is the second such accident on the Metro Rail network
The last was in Laxmi Nagar in East Delhi in 2008, also on a Sunday morning. The toll was lower though at two
“The Laxmi Nagar accident was the first major jolt (to the DMRC’s image)… today’s accident is even bigger jolt,” Sreedharan said, addressing a news conference
“This is a more serious acci- dent.” Sreedharan said the accident happened because a 4.22m cantilever, which picks up and places pre-fabricated segments together to form a span between two piers, collapsed
Metro Rail sources said the cap of pier (pillar) no. 67 could not stand the weight of the cantilever and girder and gave way
This pier has had a history – it had developed cracks in February
Assistant vice-president Gammon India Umesh Gupta said, “I don’t think Gammon would like to give any comment right now. The DMRC has already given its comment. The Government of Delhi has constituted a committee to carry out investigation.”
Sreedharan said responsi- bility for the accident would be fixed on the basis of the findings of the four-member committee, expected to give its report in 10 days. The accident may derail Metro’s phase II expansion plans. It has to add six more corridors to the three existing metro lines of about 67-kilometre, before the Commonwealth Games
Six persons died Sunday morning when a portion of the elevated Metro rail under construction near Lady Shri Ram College in South Delhi collapsed, bringing down a huge mass of steel and concrete
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation chief E Sreedharan put in his papers, shortly after taking moral responsibility for the accident. But Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit asked him to continue, saying, earlier, Metro ought to be careful
The accident took place on the 20-km Central SecretariatBadarpur line, which runs mostly overground, through crowded residential and commercial areas like Lajpat Nagar, Kailash Colony and Nehru Place
It was working to a deadline of June 2010. But it may not be able to make it in time now
“The delay could be of three or more months,” said Sreedharan, adding, “it would still be ready in time for the Commonwealth games.”
An inquiry has been ordered
The dead were identified as a junior engineer of Gammon India, the engineering firm contracted construction work for this stretch, and five workers
They were among a team of around 30 people at the site, and were about to finish their shift working through the night
Six of them died and 15 were in hospital with injuries
This is the second such accident on the Metro Rail network
The last was in Laxmi Nagar in East Delhi in 2008, also on a Sunday morning. The toll was lower though at two
“The Laxmi Nagar accident was the first major jolt (to the DMRC’s image)… today’s accident is even bigger jolt,” Sreedharan said, addressing a news conference
“This is a more serious acci- dent.” Sreedharan said the accident happened because a 4.22m cantilever, which picks up and places pre-fabricated segments together to form a span between two piers, collapsed
Metro Rail sources said the cap of pier (pillar) no. 67 could not stand the weight of the cantilever and girder and gave way
This pier has had a history – it had developed cracks in February
Assistant vice-president Gammon India Umesh Gupta said, “I don’t think Gammon would like to give any comment right now. The DMRC has already given its comment. The Government of Delhi has constituted a committee to carry out investigation.”
Sreedharan said responsi- bility for the accident would be fixed on the basis of the findings of the four-member committee, expected to give its report in 10 days. The accident may derail Metro’s phase II expansion plans. It has to add six more corridors to the three existing metro lines of about 67-kilometre, before the Commonwealth Games