‘Metro endangering Nagpurians as rain water seeps into power units’
| Date :04-Jul-2019 |
(left)Water seeping from the false ceiling at one the stations of Nagpur Metro.(right)Water seeping from the false ceiling at one the stations of Nagpur Metro.
Staff Reporter:
Maha Metro has put the lives of Nagpurians in danger due to their adamant stance in starting commercial operations even before completion of the project in city. Exposing the chinks in Nagpur Metro project, Prashant Pawar, President, Jai Jawan Jai Kisan, alleged that sub standard construction now stands exposed in aftermath of first spell of heavy rains. The false ceiling at Sitabuldi Interchange and New Airport station are leaking due to which the station buildings are flooded with rain water causing discomfort to travellers.
A major cause of worry is that the rain water has seeped into electrical appliances that is now even more dangerous from point of view of safety. At Sitabuldi the escalators were shutdown by Metro officials after water gushed below the escalators, claimed Pawar. Given the sensitive nature of electronic sensors and electrical facility of escalators, the situation is alarming and needs a through inquiry. Addressing the press conference on Wednesday, Pawar put question mark on certification process of Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS), and asked for a review considering new situation post rainfall. Further in future if station roofs continue to leak, can electrical appliances continue to operate safely.
One at this point does not know the damage caused to the electrical appliances, baggage scanner, automatic fare collectors, high resolution CCTV cameras and other equipments as water was continuously gushing and falling on to it. These electronic equipments are quite sensitive to weather conditions and hence Metro should specify whether the equipments are safe or suffered any malfunction or would need repairs, he asked.
At New Airport station the rain water had gushed into the pumping station thereby again raising question mark on supervisory officials. Should one call it a problem of faulty designs of building that failed to take into account rainfall situation and ensuring that it did not enter into station premises. Recalling big statements of Maha Metro officials that Nagpur Metro facilities would of world class, Pawar said one would like to know where can one find leaking roofs, water gushing into electronic and electrical appliances in the world. Rain water also was accumulated on tracks and Pawar asked was this factor taken into account by CMRS during their safety checks before nod to Nagpur Metro for commercial operations on Khapri-Sitabuldi-Khapri route. Vijay Kumar Shinde, CA, pointed out that Metro has provided a glossy and shiny product but now that rain water is gushing in how can one walk on such marble fitted steps. Common sense tells us that it is always preferable to have anti skid tiles to rule out any chance of slipping. However, Metro officials in their bid to provide grandiose to buildings provided marbles at platforms and in entire station arena where any travellers can now slip. Milind Mahadeokar, T H Naidu, Avinash Sherekar and others were also present at the press conference.
Leakages are there, still charges are baseless: Maha Metro
Staff Reporter
Responding to allegations of misconduct, Maha Metro claimed that Jai Jawan Jai Kisan has misused information provided under RTI as they were twisted by Prashant Pawar. The organisation is out to distort Maha Metro's image by indulging in sensationalism. While not denying the charge of water seepage at Sitabuldi Interchange, Metro said as commercial services in Reach- 3 from Lokmanya Nagar station to Sitabuldi Interchange are planned, construction work at 2nd level at Sitabuldi continued to ensure faster completion. The flow of water from second level to the first level is because of these unconstructed areas. Further the Metro officials said the curve rainfall has helped them to identify the problem area from where percolation of water has occurred. Also, Maha Metro release stated that a severe penalty would be imposed on the contractor if it is proved that the water seepage is as because of quality issues. Sitabuldi Interchange station work is entrusted to Afcon and further informed that no intermediate repair is being done. It also admitted to expenditure of Rs. one crores at Korke Bungalow but said it was necessitated as the condition of house was very dilapidated. Dr Brijesh Dixit, MD, Maha Metro, is having facility at par with other guests at Metro House in Dharampeth and further expenses on upkeep and repairs are quite less compared to other Government offices.