Safety first, everythingelse later

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation(DMRC) should have taken the safety measure as its first priority to save the lives of
labourers and engineers involved in the construction of bridges and Delhiites before providing them the facility of Metro
Rail to avail within scheduled date. There must not be pressure at the cost of safety measures for the completion of
work to meet the deadline of Commonwealth Game next year. Last year on October 19 , a major mishap had occurred on Vikas Marg in Laxmi Nagar in East Delhi when Metro rail
flyover caved in and that killed 2 persons and injured several. Besides this, several minor accidents had place in DMRC
and lives were lost. But no lesson was learnt. E Shreedharan has resigned as Managing Director of DMRC, taking moral responsibility of the accident at Zamrudpur in
South Delhi. Six persons including an engineer have lost their lives and several others have injured in that accident.
Shreedharan's resignation has rightly been rejected by Delhi CM Sheila Dixit. He is undubtedly the most efficient and
upright officer who has won sobriet Metro Man because of his uprightness. No doubt, he is a hard task master but it
does not mean that he does not care for the safety. Though he instantly resigned, he is in no way responsible for the
accident. It is either the contractors or the sub-standard materials were responsible for caving in of Metro rail
underconstruction flyover at Zamrudpur in South Delhi a day before yeaterday . Delhi is to host Commonwealth Games next year so the pressure for completition of DMRC projects or Metro Rail
Phase-11 before the deadline is natural. According to the report, the Pillar P-67 had developed cracks in Zamrudpur and
because of that the construction work there was stopped for two months on the pressure of locals and their complaints
about cracks. Only two weeks ago the Metro Rail construction work had resumed. Chief Minister Sheila Dixit has promptly announced the ex-gratia relief to the deceased and constituted an expert
committee comprising members from University and Technical institutions to go into the accident. The expert committee
will go into the reasons and had been asked to submit report within 10 days. Chief Minister Sheila Dixit has also rightly
rejected the resignation of Sreedharan. The entire staff of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation became disillusioned over the resignation of Shreedharan. They think
that with the exit of Shreedharan the DMRC will not remain different from a government office staff among whom there
are only complacency, inefficiecy , negligency and carelessness. It is Shreedharan who has infused a sense of duty in
DMRC staff to get the result in time. So, it would be great loss for Delhiites if Shreedharan’s resignation was accepted.
He actually resigned in an outburst of emotion. His resignation also should serve an eye-opener for politicians how an
upright officer took moral responsibity becausae of being the head of the organisation under question. Former Prime
Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri for the first time had resigned over a minor rail accident when he was the rail minister in
Nuhru’s cabinet. Now-a-days, no minister resigns for upholding moral responsibility in public life. Untill and unless they
are either dismissed or compelled to resign, they stuck to their chair. Shreedharan is an asset for DMRC and it is only because his perserverence and devotion to duty that Metro Rail
Phase-1 was completed ahead of schedule and within estimated cost and despite several hiccups in the form of
accidents, phase-11 is sure to be completed ahead of schedule and within estimated cost. Shreedharan also has
headed Konkan Rail Project and completed it ahead of schedule. He has received several awards from rail ministry for
his outstanding performance as an Technocrat. Time Magazine has also named him as the hero of Asia.