Title - Metro Corp, Reliance spar over closure of fastest Metro link

Days after the Airport Express Metro Line was shut down for technical and safety reasons, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and Reliance Infrastructure continued to spar over responsibility for fixing the line. According to the findings of the joint inspection by the Delhi Metro, Reliance Infra and Indian Railways officials, out of the 540 bearings inspected so far, 24 per cent had major defects and the rest minor flaws. The government has appointed a two-member committee, comprising A K Gupta, additional member (works) in the railway board, and D Deeptivilas, additional secretary, ministry of urban development, to get these faults repaired and fix responsibility for the lapse.“After that, we have decided to inspect all 2,100 bearings on the corridor, just to be sure,” said Sudhir Krishna, secretary, urban development ministry, at a press conference on Monday. Krishna said the August-end deadline set by the government for reopening the corridor might get extended as all bearings have to be inspected. The 15-month-old Airport Express Line, considered the fastest Metro link in the country, had shut down for an indefinite period on July 8.Krishna said they would try to stick to the resumption deadline but the exact position would be known only by July-end as they did not want to compromise on passenger safety. Reliance Infrastructure, which operates the line, blamed the Metro officials. “Defects exist in the drawings,” pointed out Sumit Banerjee, head of Infrastructure, Reliance Infra.

Banerjee insisted that the defects were pointed out on day one but did not comment when asked if the line was inaugurated without thorough inspection of the civil structure to meet the deadline.

Mangu Singh, managing director of Delhi Metro, evaded questions relating to complaints by Reliance Infra. Singh estimated the cost of repair of the bearings at about Rs 86 lakh but was not sure of the overall line rehabilitation expenditure.