Bengaluru: The BMRCL on Saturday night began its maintenance work. Services between Byappanahalli and MG Road Metro stations on Purple Line were resumed by 11am on Sunday.
The services were suspended since 9.30pm on Saturday. The bearings above the pillars near Indiranagar station station were being replaced, a source said. The 6.7-km six-station stretch (Reach 1) of the Purple Line between Byappanahalli and MG Road, which is operational since October 2011, is now under scanner.
On December 9, BMRCL detected “a minor aberration in girder alignment” following a honeycomb concreting defect in a viaduct beam above pier 155 near Trinity station.
Following this, it conducted a quality audit of Metro Phase 1 civil structures and found structural flaws at pillars along the Reach 1, mainly in Byappanahalli and Trinity. The work is likely to be taken up in different phases, which means more operations may be suspended in coming days. Ajay Seth, the Managing Director of BMRCL said that there is no cause for concern. It’s not unusual to find such minor maintenance and repair issues. Other Metros also take up regular structural inspections and attend to deficiencies. This work is being executed after an inspection on the entire stretch.
When asked upon the actions taken against the contractor and officials, he said that BMRCL has taken up the matter with the contractor.
Suryanarayana Murthy, Vice President, Bangalore Metro Rail Employees Union (BMREU), confirmed that the quality of work has been compromised in Reach 1. Due to frequent suspension of services as well as repair work BMRCL has been affected by a huge financial burden, but nobody is held accountable.
According to Dr.JM Chandra Kishen, professor, department of civil engineering, IISc, the bearings transmit loads from the viaducts to the the columns and hence, maximum wear occurs. Sometimes they need to be replaced. This takes a few hours since the pedestals that house the bearings need to be cleaned and grouted with epoxy for achieving correct levels. During this operation, regular train service may need to be suspended.
Source: The Times of India