Delhi Metro sacks project director; starts structural audit

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation today started taking action in connection with the back-to-back accidents at a construction site here with the removal of a senior official and the initiation of a security audit of its critical structures.

Investigations into the collapse of cranes on Monday, while clearing debris after an under-construction bridge gave way on Sunday killing six persons in South Delhi's Jamrudpur, started even as the DMRC initiated a security audit of the collapse.

Normal traffic is yet to be restored near the accident site with officials expressing hope that they would be able do it "very soon" as debris clearance operations were progressing.

In its first punitive action since the Sunday mishap, the DMRC repatriated project director Vijay Anand, who was director in charge of the Central Secretariat-Badarpur line of Phase II, where the collapse took place.

DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal said managing director E Sreedharan ordered Anand's repatriation. A Metro source said Anand was involved in the design of the second line and was also in charge of the Lakshmi Nagar site where an accident had taken place in October last year.

Anand, who joined Delhi Metro in 2001, was also present at the site when cranes collapsed on Monday while the debris from Sunday's accident was being cleared. He was chief engineer in the Indian Railways and joined DMRC in the same rank. He was promoted to the post of director two years ago.

Later, the DMRC spokesperson said Anand had sought repatriation to his parent organisation. "Sreedharan accepted his request," he said.

The DMRC had yesterday ordered a complete re-check of structures built by it in Phase II of the project from the safety and quality point of view by independent structural experts, besides ordering a probe into the mishap during debris clearance.

Dayal said Shirish Patel and Associates, the firm that was appointed to undertake a technical audit of critical structures, has already begun the work. BP Singh, who is an expert in the construction of heavy structures, has also begun his inquiry into Monday's incident involving the cranes.

He said the Metro has also paid compensation to the next kin of those who died in the accident and to the injured persons. "Out of Rs5 lakh offered to the kin of those dead, Rs50,000 each has been paid as interim relief in cash. The rest of the amount will be converted into fixed deposits of three years," Dayal said.

Seven persons who suffered major injuries have been given the full compensation of Rs50,000 each while eight persons with minor injuries have been paid Rs10,000 each.

About 200 workers along with 30 engineers were taking part in site-clearing activities at Jamrudpur but rainfall in the area affected the progress of the work. Dayal said, "Removal of pieces of the damaged launching girder is in progress. A 350-tonne crane and two 100-tonne cranes are being used to remove pieces of the girder and debris."

The process includes cutting the 72-metre-long launching girder into several pieces, each 15m long. The part of the launching girder that is resting on the concrete span has been cut into 7m pieces.

The fallen pre-stressed concrete span has also been provided with adequate support so that the parts do not fall during their removal. Trestle arrangements, wedge packing, sandbags, and safety nets have been installed to ensure safety.

Work on cutting the concrete girder is expected to start soon. Seven different types of diamond-disc concrete-cutting machines and core-cutting machines will be used for the purpose.

While unidirectional traffic from Moolchand to Nehru Place has been allowed, officials said the work is on at a fast pace to ensure two-way traffic. "We hope to open traffic on both ways very soon," a senior official said.

Officials involved in the operation said it could take a week to clear the debris completely.