CMH Road too narrow for Metro

CMH Road too narrow for Metro

Contractor threatens to halt work Shoots a flurry of letters to BMRCL warning heavy casualty on the stretch

KV Ramana & Senthalir S. Bangalore/Hyderabad



A major mishap is awaited at the Metro site on CMH Road and that would even be worse than the Delhi Metro. This is precisely why the contractor has threatened to halt work on the stretch.
Raising safety concerns over the Metro work carried out on the CMH Road, the company which was awarded contract for the Metro work has written to the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) stating that the CMH Road is too narrow for the work to be carried out. It has also stated that the safety of both the labourers and commuters is at stake.
The authorities also said the Navayuga Group, the contractor, felt it to be unsafe for its workers. Why? "The width of this road is about 9 metres and the segments that would be erected have a width of 8.5 metres. With almost no gap left between the buildings and the segments, in case of an accident even the rescue teams would be of no help," a source associated with the project said.
"The authorities are asking to carry on with a wrong system of project execution. This is not how the segmental construction has to be taken up. Each segment would weigh at least 200 tonnes. For carrying and erecting such a segment, the contractor needs more space. The contractors were assured 15-metre width at the time of contracting. The system of construction is absolutely unsafe," the source said.
Navayuga chairman CV Rao refused to comment on the issue since the matter is sub-judice. It has sent at least seven letters to BMRCL raising concerns over safety aspect. In a letter (Ref: NEC/1187/ASR/18, Date: June 20, 2009), it wrote to the BMRCL to say: "You are compelling and coercing us to immediately start the segmental launch in the CMH Road area, without adequately addressing the unsafe work environment, with significant potential risk of harm and injury to person and property. In addition, the practical constraints will involve getting bogged down in an area where the piers are extremely high. The method being forced on us requires space for free movement of heavy cranes and trailers, etc. This space requirement has to be contractually met by the BMRCL. Further, you are also subjecting and exposing us to the risk of ignoring the public safety, such that in the event of any unfortunate accident; we would be guilty of criminal negligence and be subjected to all its consequences from the law. BMRCL is ignoring the singular fact that the execution of works in the CMH Road 'stretch' is a special case due to the non-availability of sufficient working space, required for launching activities and other operations.
Underlining that this may lead to extremely dangerous and unsafe situations, the Navayuga has written that "the working space does not cater for any eventuality that may occur during erection of segments or during the launching of LG (launching girder). Any incident requiring the assistance of cranes during these operations is completely ruled out as crane requires a minimum space of about 14 metres to reach the deck which is over 17 metres high. This may lead to extremely dangerous and unsafe situations." (Ref: NEC/1187/ASR/18, Date: June 20, 2009)
When contacted the BMRCL, a senior official said that the letter has not come to his notice. "We will adopt the best method required for the CMH Road stretch. The launching of segments would be done in October. We will plan at that time and adopt the method best suited," he added.