In a dramatic announcement, Delhi Metro Chief E Sreedharan today said he was quitting from the post owning moral responsibility for an accident at its construction site which claimed five lives.
Sreedharan announced his decision at a crowded press conference here this afternoon, soon after his visit to the site of the collapse of an under-construction bridge of Delhi Metro in Jamrudpur of south Delhi's Lajpat Nagar.
"As the head of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, I take moral responsibility for the incident... So I have decided to resign and I have put in papers and I have sent it to Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit," he said.
Asked whether his decision will delay the Metro projects which are scheduled to be completed before the Commonwealth Games, he said, "The views you are making may be correct but my personal conviction in this matter cannot be compromised."
Delhi government said it was not for taking any hasty decision on the resignation of Sreedharan.
"We are not to take any hasty decision on the resignation of Sreedharan," said P K Tripathi, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister.