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CoEPUT audit gives green signal to Pune Metro stations
Based on the allegations of poor construction quality at metro stations made by two city-based structural engineers, Narayan Kochak and Shirish Khasbardar, Maha-Metro explained that they had resolved all construction issues at Pune Metro stations
PUNE
After much debate about the safety and technical audit of Maharashtra Metro Railway Corporation Company Limited (Maha-Metro) operations, the College of Engineering Pune Technological University (CoEPTU) has stated in its final audit report that all metro stations are safe to use.
On Tuesday, Maha-Metro issued a press release in which it stated that after several engineers expressed concerns about the structural integrity of the metro stations, the Metro acted quickly and hired the expertise of COEPUT to undertake a complete structural audit. The goal was to find any flaws or inadequacies in the metro stations.
Based on the allegations of poor construction quality at metro stations made by two city-based structural engineers, Narayan Kochak and Shirish Khasbardar, Maha-Metro explained that they had resolved all construction issues at Pune Metro stations.
In this regard, Hemant Sonawane, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Maha-Metro said, “The final report regarding the structural inspections of Pune Metro was submitted on Thursday by COEPUT. The report verifies that the metro stations have passed all tests and are ready for use. This conclusion was reached after extensive site visits, painstaking observations, and a detailed investigation of the station structures, including their earthquake resistance capacity.”
The expert assessment conducted by COEPUT confirms the structural integrity and security of our metro stations. The Metro is devoted to prioritising our passengers’ safety and well-being, and they will continue to take the necessary steps to maintain the highest levels of security in our metro stations, the press release added.
According to Atul Gadgil, Maha-Metro’s director (works), “The report highlights that the design of the metro stations incorporates sufficient security measures, ensuring their overall safety.”
“We conducted an entirely new audit of MahaMetro work,” stated D N Sonawane, register of CoEPTU.
“The report was delivered to MahaMetro officials. A technical examination was carried out by a team led by Professor Bhalchandra Birajdar.”
Following that, Maha-Metro appointed CoEPTU to perform a third-party examination of the construction work. CoEPTU issued a report in which they stated that during the inspection, they saw strong teamwork from Metro Engineers and that they had seriously begun rectifying the flaws.
Petitioners Kochak and Khasbardar were dissatisfied with the CoEPUT report and went to court on April 13. The Bombay High Court, hearing the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) raising concerns about the quality of work and public safety, ordered COEPTU to submit a new structural audit report on the Pune Metro within a week. Following that, CoEPTU conducted another technical audit and presented it to Maha-Metro.
