Metro consultants not happy

Damning revelations as they are, this could now raise serious questions on the project modelled on the pattern of Delhi Metro.

Highly placed sources in the GC of BMRCL, who were appointed in August 2007, following calling of global tenders to have international expertise on the project, told Deccan Herald here on Wednesday, that some of the contractors involved in the project are not willing to listen to the advice from international experts on key issues of safety and quality.

“What happened in Delhi is a quality issue and not one related to a safety aspect. Nobody would like it to have a repetition here in Bangalore. As GC, we are responsible for ensuring quality of the projects undertaken by respective contractors and ensure that safety is not compromised by any of them,” said an international expert in the GC.
Having been drawn from a pool of experts who have worked in prestigious Metro projects the world over, including the Dubai Metro and the High Speed Rail in Taiwan, GC officials say co-operation from contractors in ‘Namma Metro’ is far from satisfactory.

Not willing to listen

Added another GC expert, “Though we are trying our best, some of the contractors are not willing to listen. They are very slow in compliance. This is not helping the situation at all. As a matter of fact, very few project managers turned up at a safety meet convened by us, recently. The matter has been taken up with Managing Director N Sivasailam.”
However, Chun Nan Wu, the chief quality control engineer in GC said, structurally, Namma Metro is safe and there is no cause for worry.

“Inspection and audit of all piers / viaduct construction awarded to contractors is done periodically, following which their reports are sent to the managing director of BMRCL. So far, there have been no problems on Reach 1. Safety is on top of our priority,” he said.

Committee to study feasibility

Following a meeting between the Palike and the Traffic Police, it is learnt that the K R Circle Rotary has been referred to an expert committee for a feasibility study.

The controversial Rotary was created under the aegis of the then Palike Commissioner, Subramanya for easing the flow of traffic along K R Circle. It was alleged back then that the Traffic police was not consulted for building the Circle. 

 S Praveen Dhaneshkar,DH News Service,Bangalore:

Not willing to listen

Added another GC expert, “Though we are trying our best, some of the contractors are not willing to listen. They are very slow in compliance. This is not helping the situation at all. As a matter of fact, very few project managers turned up at a safety meet convened by us, recently. The matter has been taken up with Managing Director N Sivasailam.”
However, Chun Nan Wu, the chief quality control engineer in GC said, structurally, Namma Metro is safe and there is no cause for worry.
“Inspection and audit of all piers / viaduct construction awarded to contractors is done periodically, following which their reports are sent to the managing director of BMRCL. So far, there have been no problems on Reach 1. Safety is on top of our priority,” he said.