Not willing to take any more chances after three mishaps at its work sites in the last ten days, Delhi Metro on Friday set up a full time organisation to ensure safety procedures are followed and quality is not compromised.
This was announced by Delhi Metro chief E Sreedharan during a review meeting of the organisation's Operations and Maintenance wing to examine the safety systems of Metro structures, stations and trains, which are currently being used by the public.
The safety organisation, which will be headed by the general manager (Stocks and Operations), will review the safety procedures being followed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation in various disciplines such as structural maintenance of stations, safety of track, safety of elevated viaduct, safety of running trains and safety of electrical and telecom equipment.
"The organisation will make visits to the stations and check whether there are any cracks on the walls and other structures. If they find any crack, they will report to the managing director directly and immediate steps will be taken to rectify those problems," a DMRC spokesman said.
The decision to set up a full-time organisation comes after three mishaps at Metro sites which killed seven persons and injured 21 this month. The spokesman said the DMRC instructed its engineers and other staff that quality and safety cannot be compromised and it should remain as the prime concern.
The organisation will also examine each and every metro tunnel station, elevator, escalator and lift in detail, he said, adding, foot patrolling will continue.
"All sensitive points in the track will be re-checked and ultrasonic testing will be done," the spokesman said. Sreedharan also directed engineers to maintain detailed registers after every inspection, which will be carried out by junior engineers, assistant engineers, executive engineers, deputy chief engineers and finally will be submitted to the general managers or heads of departments.
Air conditioning, fire systems and the Rolling Stock (Trains) will be given special attention, he said and added that mock drills will continue to take place from time to time to check the alertness of the Metro staff.
