Delhi Metro contractor Gammon India served show cause notice

Delhi Metro Rail has issued a show-cause notice to Gammon India, a contractor working on its projects. The notice pertains to the collapse of the Delhi Metro bridge earlier this month at Zamradpur in Delhi that claimed six people.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has blamed deficiencies in design and material for the bridge collapse. It has suspended two deputy chief engineers of Gammon and has asked the contractor to explain why it should not be blacklisted for two years. Blacklisting would entail prohibition to compete for any future contracts.

The notice comes after a three-member panel probed into the bridge collapse. According to DMRC managing director E Sreedharan, the board of directors have accepted the panel's report.

Gammon is facing a two-year ban from taking part in government projects. (See: Gammon India faces 2-year ban over Delhi Metro accident)

"We have accepted the report in total. The unfortunate incident took place due to design deficiency and material deficiency. The cantilever design was not adequately taken care of and provision of steel at different points were not adequate," Sreedharan said.

''DMRC is as much responsible for the mishap as is the contractor involved - we approved the design and supervised the project,'' he added.

According to the panel's report, the flawed design of the cantilever on top of pier-67 was not strong enough to withstand the load it was supposed to carry.

DMRC has also taken action against a sub-contractor and a design expert who have been blacklisted for five and two years, respectively.