The government on Tuesday “show-caused” Gammon India asking why the company should not be blacklisted for two years.
The government on Tuesday “show-caused” Gammon India asking why the company should not be blacklisted for two years after an independent probe found faulty design and substandard material caused the mishap that left six workers dead at a metro site in south Delhi on July 12.
“There were design flaws on the part of Gammon India because of which the accident happened,” E Shreedharan, managing director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), told reporters.
This is not the first time that Gammon, executing 100 contracts worth Rs14,000 crore across the country, is courting controversy. In 2007, the Panjagutta flyover in Hyderabad that was being constructed by it had collapsed.
On Tuesday, urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy told the Lok Sabha that the government has blacklisted design consultant Arch Consultancy Services for five years. The structural consultant, Tandon Consultants, has been debarred for two years for not giving “correct advice” to DMRC after noticing the crack.
The DMRC cracked down on its officials. Vijay Anand, a director with DMRC in whose jurisdiction the accident occurred, has been sent back to the railways. Two deputy chief engineers responsible for the design and site supervision, VP Shrivastava and Mukesh Thakur, have been suspended, the minister said. Rajan Kataria, chief engineer (design), will be issued a major penalty chargesheet.
The probe panel, headed by IIT-Delhi professor AK Nagpal, submitted its report to Reddy earlier in the day.
Sreedharan said among other measures, the corporation has decided to get the design “double-checked” by an independent agency.
While Reddy said Gammon could be blacklisted for up to two years, Sreedharan said the company has “five projects in its kitty, and banning them will make matters worse. We need to complete phase II before the [Commonwealth] Games”.
“We have sent the notice to Gammon India,” he said. Parvez Umrigar, spokesperson for Gammon, said the company has not yet received the notice.
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