Click to play videoNew Delhi: Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) chief E Sreedharan announced his resignation as he took the moral responsibility of the Delhi Metro mishap - a metro rail bridge collapsed killing several people. The DMRC has now set up an inquiry team and the CBI's forensic sleuths visited the area to gather clues.
It's the second such mishap in the past nine months. In October 2008, a metro bridge had collapsed in Laxmi Nagar area of East Delhi. Sreedharan looked distressed over the latest tragedy.
"I take full moral responsibility for this accident and having taken this moral responsibility, I have decided to resign as the Managing Director of DMRC," he said.
“Today is a bigger jolt, because according to me this accident is more serious than the Laxmi Nagar accident," he added.
The under-construction bridge collapsed after cracks developed on a pillar that supported it.
"It appears to have been caused due some problem in one of the pillars, where the launching operation was going on, there was some problem in the design of the pillar," said Delhi Metro Spokesperson, Anuj Dayal.
The accident has lent ammunition to the allegation that metro contractors are flouting safety, under pressure to meet the 2010 Commonwealth Games deadline.
Police have filed an FIR, but no individual or group has been directly charged.
"We are setting up a board of four to five members - experts from universities and technology institutions - so that they can really go deep down into this. But I don't think we can afford to have another accident like this," Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said.
For the moment, Sreedharan has the support of both the Centre and the Delhi government.
"I don't think we should blow the incident out of proportion. Sreedharan should get unqualified compliments for the work he did," said Minister for Urban Development S Jaipal Reddy.
Even as the metro man himself put in his resignation, the real culprits behind this accident are still to be booked. The reputation of DMRC, which has taken a severe beating, is going to take time to recover.
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