A month after the Bengaluru Metro reinforcement cage collapsed, which led to the death of a woman and her toddler son, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has issued guidelines for construction work in the city, officials said on Thursday.
The BMRCL has formulated the new standard operating procedures (SOPs) based on the recommendations in the study report by the experts of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and also sought feedback from the experts.
The BMRCL said that these guidelines should be followed while carrying out the ‘Namma Metro’ work anywhere in the city, according to officials.
On January 10, the reinforcement cage of pier number 218 of the KR Puram-Airport metro line collapsed on a motorcycle, killing two people near HBR Layout in the city.
Nine people, including the construction company Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC), were named in the FIR filed by the police on January 11.
The BMRCL, facing flak over the incident, had roped in IISc to investigate the reason behind the mishap. IISc found that inadequate support structure for the tall reinforcement cage was the main reason behind the collapse.
Prof J M Chandra Kishen of the civil engineering department at IISc, who conducted the inquiry, and submitted the report to the BMRCL on January 21, said on Thursday that the SOPs have been made regarding the construction of the metro pillars. The pillars have been classified into three groups, based on their height, depending on which construction should be done.
“Now that especially on Outer Ring Road (ORR), there are many other flyovers which are adjacent to the metro construction, the pillars will be of different heights. So, we have classified the pillars into three groups, 0-12 m, 12-20 m and beyond 20 m,” Prof Kishen said.
“For these three classifications, they have suggested how the construction should take place. For 0-12, it should be done in one stage, that is concreting. For 12-20, the construction should be done in two stages, and beyond 20 m, it should be done in three stages,” Prof Kishen said.
Earlier, there were no classifications for the pillars, which have been introduced based on height. Before, the concreting was supposed to be done in one stage itself, but now, it will be done in different stages depending on the height, Prof Kishen explained.
The SOPs also include other safety precautions, including supporting mechanisms and step-by-step procedures. “The BMRCL had sent the proposal, and we have made some additions to it to increase the safety and sent it back. I received a mail saying the suggestions will be incorporated and taken forward,” Prof. Kishen said.
The recommendations include those which have to be immediately implemented and those which should be incorporated to increase safety not just for these pillars, but in general work going forward.
Prof Kishen said that such mishaps can be avoided going forward if take these safety precautions are taken. “Generally, in these types of constructions, you can’t cordon off the area or close the road due to traffic. There are pillars every 25 meters. If you cordon off the area, where will the traffic go? There is a high density of traffic, and it is very difficult. The only way is for people to be very watchful and take utmost precautions,” he said.
After the incident, urban experts had earlier, blamed the callousness of the authorities and said the incident could have been avoided with proper supervision and had the area been restricted for traffic movement.
The SOPs also mention that a trained person or personnel should supervise the work. “They will plan regular training programmes and courses going forward,” prof Kishen said.
The SOPs also come in the backdrop of the BMRCL Employees Union writing a letter to chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, demanding independent quality inspection of metro works in the city. Suryanarayan Murthy, the vice president of the BMRCL Employees Union, in a letter dated February 6, demanded a quality check of all pillars of BMRCL by experts from the IISc and IIT, who qualify as metro, civil and construction activities.
Alleging that the metro pillar collapse occurred due to negligence of the contractor and the managing director of BMRCL, and poor quality of civil work, Murthy said that the BMRCL management did not follow the safety precautions specified in the contract.
