It seems the Delhi Metro is falling apart. A metro panel has pointed out wide cracks in several DMRC buildings, including stations
It seems the Delhi Metro is falling apart. a metro panel has pointed out wide cracks in several DMRC buildings, including stationsu00a0
If the pictures of a collapsed Metro pillar and cranes carrying boulders turning turtle scared you, hold on.
There's more in store.u00a0
Everybody took out their probing lenses after the under-construction pillar came down at Zamrudpur in south Delhi, prompting the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to order a safety review of all structures on Phase I and II of the Metro line.
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Falling apart: Wide cracks (encircled) at Janakpuri East Metro Station building in New Delhi. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said the cracks are "superfluous" and pose no danger. Experts blamed it on faulty designu00a0Pics/Subhash Barolia |
Highly placed sources in the DMRC have confirmed to MiD DAY that prominent cracks have been pointed out at Janakpuri Metro station.
The cracks, described as "superfluous" by DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal, were found to be threatening, with some of them being several inches wide.
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"This is not all. We are checking other sites also," a Metro official said, requesting anonymity.
A senior civil engineer with Delhi government said there are a number of factors which could have led to the cracks. "It can only be explained after serious examination. But such cracks are generally the outcome of faulty design and poor quality of material used in construction. It can also be a workmanship problem."u00a0 Against the backdrop of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, these revelations can put the DMRC in a soup. The CAG report has found some glaring lapses in the quality control systems adopted by the DMRC.
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Dangerous: A long crack beside an elevator at Janakpuri East stationu00a0pic/Subhash Barolia |
To hasten the project, quality control procedures were relaxed deliberately, the CAG report has pointed out.
Six workers were killed and 15 others injured when a section of the Delhi Metro track under construction at Zamrudpur in south Delhi collapsed early on Sunday.
A CAG official in Delhi has said if the report compiled in 2007-2008 was tabled on time, incidents like Zamrudpur could have been averted. Metro sources confirmed that a number of installations, including Metro stations constructed during Phase-I, have developed cracks, including the station controller room at Inderlok and the subway of the Vishwavidyalaya Metro station. A total of 65 km were constructed in the Phase-I of Delhi Metro for which work started in 2002 and was completed by 2005. Three lines,u00a0 Dwarka-Indraprastha, Central Secretariat-Vishwavidyalaya and Shahdra-Rithala lines were constructed in this phase with a total expenditure of Rs 10,000 crore.
