The death of a young housewife, Mounika, when a piece of mortar fell on her head underneath the Ameerpet metro rail station while she was taking shelter from the rain on Sunday has exposed the shoddy maintenance and safety loopholes of the project.
L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad (L&TMRH) and government’s special purpose vehicle overseeing the project - Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMR), have been claiming ‘strict adherence to quality control and safety’ right from the start of construction seven years ago.
There were incidents of material falling on people below injuring them, yet the 66-km overhead viaduct in midst of the capital roads was built without any major lapse with third party independent engineering agency keeping a close watch on proceedings.
Same kind of vigil seems to be missing on routes already commissioned between L.B. Nagar and Miyapur of Corridor I (27 km) and Nagole to HiTec City of Corridor III (27 km). Even as frequency of trains was brought down to 4-5 minutes on these routes with up to 3 lakh passengers travelling daily, the chinks are showing.
If sudden jerks during travel or flexi plastic material falling on electric traction leading to service disruptions were blamed on ‘pollution’ and ‘gales’, the lightening arrestor rod falling on the track near the Legislative Assembly metro station on July 27 was the first indication of the system showing signs of wear and tear in less than two years of running.
“It could have been fatal if the rod fell on the road below. Metro rail is not a build-and-forget project. It has to be on continuous monitoring and maintenance mode which does not appear to be happening. Heads would have rolled in Indian Railways for such a lapse,” aver senior metro rail officials, pleading anonymity.
Indian Railways has a senior engineer for every 50 km track with at least 200 gangmen to keep watch on the railway lines whereas this is not the case for L&TMRH as it has kept the maintenance staff to the bare minimum. Stations and viaduct inspection need regular checks while Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) is mandated to do annual checks. It is not known if this is being followed.
“Oliphanta bridge is a landmark engineering feat and it took lot of effort where about 50,000 high tensile bolts were used. It has to be checked often as there is bound to be wear and tear due to frequent train movement. Maintenance teams should be scouting from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m. along the viaduct up and down,” they say.
Job cuts
L&TMRH has been cutting jobs, including those in engineering, citing fund crunch and this is showing in terms of cleanliness at stations. HMR MD N.V.S. Reddy has called for ‘immediate inspection’ of all stations and columns following the incident but unfortunately, this belated step is not going to bring back Mounika to life.
L&TMRH officials were ‘unavailable’ for a response.
Case altered
SR Nagar police have booked L&T under Section 304A (causing death by negligence). Earlier, they had registered a case of suspicious death.
KTR seeks probe
Minister for IT, Municipal Administration and Urban Development K.T. Rama Rao on Monday directed HMR MD N.V.S. Reddy to get the incident investigated by ‘independent engineering experts’ and take up remedial measures.
The incident has to be taken seriously and it is to be ensured it does not recur and that safety to be a priority at all times, he said, adding that L&TMRH had also held discussions with the family of the deceased and agreed to pay compensation of ₹20 lakh.