PROJECT DEADLINE NOT AT THE COST OF SAFETY, SAYS LMRC

Announcing a threelayer security check for construction work, the Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) on Wednesday said though it was committed to completing the project within the stipulated deadline, it could not be at the cost of passengers’ safety.

The LMRC has decided not only to get a safety audit of works done by an independent agency but also impose a penalty on project contractor Larsen and Toubro for the lapse and the dent it has caused to the image of the organisation in the eyes of the people.

Managing director LMRC Kumar Keshav termed Sunday’s bridge-collapse incident a very serious lapse and said work at the site would resume only after necessary corrective measures were put in place.

“The incident is a proof of system deficiency and complacency that sets in among workers when you keep doing the same work over a long-period of time. They (workers) adopt short-cuts by-passing the laid down procedures that cause such mishaps,” he said adding that the mishap to him primafacie appeared to be a case of faulty scaffolding.

He said stern instructions had been issued to the project contractor (read L&T). “We have told them there would no repair of the damaged section. The entire under-construction portion, including the peer caps, would be demolished and recast and the cost would be borne by the contractor,” he said.

Work at the site, he said, was expected to commence from Thursday night. He said the corporation would work roundthe-clock in shifts to make up for the delay because of this incident. The four-member team set up to probe the incident would submit its report within a fortnight, he said.