Bagging unfettered rights on the proposed Kochi Metro Rail project, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has deftly incorporated a clause wherein the responsibility for safety shall be restricted to the day of handing over of the project with a current outlay of Rs 4,238 crore.
The draft agreement submitted to the state government, which is available with Express, states that “obtaining the safety certification of the Kochi Metro project work before it is opened for public will be the responsibility of the DMRC and shall be restricted to the day of handing over of the project to KMRL and not after that’’ (clause 4 (g). The pact will be entered into by KMRL and DMRC once the govt ratifies it.
Without mentioning anything further on the safety aspect or fixation of responsibility in the event of a failure sooner or later after implementation of the project like the collapse of sections of Delhi Airport Express Metro rail a few months ago, the same clause, however, says: ‘’DMRC can assist in recruiting and training the O & M staff and in operating the sections as and when they are completed, including maintenance of the assets for which a separate contract and charges, if any, will be as mutually decided/will need to be negotiated.’’
The 23-km-long Delhi Airport Express Metro rail was constructed by DMRC and handed over to Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, but the latter has initiated legal action after the collapse.
On monitoring the quality of DMRC work for the Kochi Metro, the pact empowers KMRL to appoint Independent Quality Monitors “at their own cost’’ and ‘‘within three days of inspection’’.
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