Blacklisted Metro contractors are still at work

Delhi metro has to complete 125-kilometre by September 2010. And with only few big contractors equipped to take up civil works of such magnitude, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has no choice but to depend on them for all their civil projects.

Delhi Metro has to complete 125-kilometre by September 2010. And with only few big contractors equipped to take up civil works of such magnitude, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has no choice but to depend on them for all their civil projects.

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No wonder that despite the investigating committee squarely blaming Afcons Infrastructure for structural collapse near Laxmi Nagar in October 2008, DMRC could only blacklist the construction agency from participating in tendering process of any fresh civil contracts for one year.

“Removing the agency would have adversely affected our expansion plans. We have blacklisted them for a year and may even extend it later,” DMRC Managing Director E Sreedharan said.

Afcons Infrastructure is the main civil contractor for Yamuna Bank-Anand Vihar ISBT Metro line and is also doing work on the Airport Express Line.

Apart from blacklisting the company, two Afcon Infrastructure’s engineers were removed from DMRC projects and a penalty imposed on the company.

Gammon India, the contractor working on the line which met with an accident, is also the main civil contractor for elevated section of Central Secretariat-Badarpur section, Indraparstha-Noida corridor.

Though DMRC sources blamed the contractor for Sunday’s incident, they doubted if the company would be removed from the project.

Incidentally, Gammon India was the same contractor for the flyover which collapsed in Hyderabad in September last year.

Apart from the metro work, civil contractors like Afcons, Gamon, Navyuga, and L&T are also constructing flyovers, stadiums and buildings in Delhi and elsewhere in India.

“There a few big companies which actually meet the pre-requisites and same companies are awarded civil contracts. All these companies have more work than it can actually handle,” said an engineer who has worked with the DMRC.