Official says they were lucky to have got away with only minor injuries. The metro tragedy would have been greater if the steel bars had fallen towards the popular coffee joints on the other side
Official says they were lucky to have got away with only minor injuries. The metro tragedy would have been greater if the steel bars had fallen towards the popular coffee joints on the other side
Coffee-lovers hanging out at a cafe on CMH Road missed death by a whisker yesterday, according to a senior engineer at the metro site there.
Two labourers were injured when reinforcement steel used for a Namma Metro pier on CMH Road collapsed. However, the casualties would have been far more if the 72 reinforcement steel bars, about 42 feet in length, had fallen towards Coffee Day and Sreedevi Hotel, both popular hangouts, he said.
"We are shocked but lucky that there are no serious casualties," said the engineer at the site. "The collapse would have killed at least 4-5 if it had fallen towards Coffee Day. This is the first time this has happened since work began on CMH Road."
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Fall of the mighty: The Namma Metro pier that collapsed consisted of 72 reinforcement steel bars, about 42 feet in lengthu00a0 Pics by Ramesh HS |
Living in fear
Local shopkeepers and residents blame BMRCL for the mess and now fear repeat incidents.
"Officials here are negligent. And that is the main reason for today's accident," said Ram Mohan, a shopowner. "Many structures are left half-done like the pier and we fear a repeat of such incidents."
Safety claimsu00a0u00a0
The incident has set off alarm bells after Metro officials, including MD N Sivasailam,u00a0 claimed that it was all safe and sound after a series of collapses in Delhi.
"Metro officials have been claiming that everything was well. But that's not the case. There is a need for additional safety measures," said Professor M N Shrihari, infrastructure, traffic and transport advisor to the chief minister.
"A technical committee to monitor the work periodically can check such incidents," he added.
'No lapse'But BMRCL officials insist there was no lapse.
"There is no lapse from our side," said Yashwant Chauhan, chief public relations officer, BMRCL. "Some rods may have slipped during the lapping process. We have built many piers and this is the first time this has happened so. It's not a lapse."
