New Delhi, Jul 17:Days before the Airport Metro Express was shut down temporarily, its operator Reliance Infrastructure had warned the Urban Development Ministry that the operation of the line was “unsafe” and slowing down of speed was “adversely impacting” it financially.
Operations on the 23-km high-speed corridor were suspended on July 8 after Reliance Infra detected cracks on the civil structure that were built by the Delhi Metro as part of the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) agreement.
However, the Delhi Metro had countered the argument saying the defective civil work issue is being “played up” by the Reliance Infra “in order to create a case for getting out of the Concession Agreement.”
These observations are made in a Status Report on the corridor that Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath had sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on July 11.
Reliance Infra officials had met Urban Development Secretary Sudhir Krishna and handed over a set of photographs showing defects in civil structure, he said.
“DAMEPL (Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited) informed that the operation of the project is not only unsafe but also dangerous to life and property and as advised by DMRC was continuing to operate the services at a reduced speed.
“However, due to the decrease in speed, the ridership had been reduced substantially, thereby adversely impacting the project financials,” Nath said, quoting a letter from DAMEPL on June 22.
During a review meeting on June 28, Nath said DMRC chief Mangu Singh mentioned that the “defective civil work issue is being played up by DAMEPL in order to create a case for getting out of the Concession Agreement.”
“Secretary (UD) and MD, DMRC were given directions to closely monitor all aspects including safety on priority,” Nath said.
