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‘Lack of ethics led to Metro bridge crash’
Designing the cantilever pier was not a complex exercise, it was lack of professional ethics that led the deficient design and eventually its collapse in Delhi Metro, said Dr E. Sreedharan, managing director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.
Designing the cantilever pier was not a complex exercise, it was lack of professional ethics that led the deficient design and eventually its collapse in Delhi Metro, said Dr E. Sreedharan, managing director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.
Referring to the Delhi metro bridge collapse on July 12, Sreedharan requested the director of the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) to incorporate ethics and national values as part of curriculum while addressing the 47th convocation at the institute.
A high-level technical committee, which included a professor of civil engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and a professor of structural engineering from Delhi College of Engineering had found that the collapse was due to serious design deficiency.
“Should we not educate and warn engineers and scientists coming out of this institute that professional ethics and values should not be compromised for short term business advantage?” questioned Sreedharan.
He stressed on the need for students to return to the country after studying abroad.
“The country invests about Rs 20 lakh per year on each student graduating out of this institute. You have a duty to pay back to the nation at least 10 times of what you have got out of this institute,” said Sreedharan.
He also urged students to come out with solutions to the energy crisis and global warming issue that the country is facing.
The convocation saw 1,616 degrees being awarded to students from various academic programmes including doctorate, masters of science, management among others. G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was conferred honorary degree of doctor of science for his contribution to the country’s space technology and science.
Devang Khakhar, IIT-B director, who also addressed the convocation said that the institute is now planning to augment its quantum of research and development in the next three years. “By 2014, two-third of students graduating from the institute would be post-graduates. We are trying to move close to the industry, to do relevant research that would make a difference to the society,” said Khakhar.
