DMRC advises people to not fly kites near elevated metro lines for safety

Ahead of Independence Day, the DMRC on Sunday advised people not to fly kites in the vicinity of elevated metro lines passing through residential areas for their safety and to prevent disruption of metro services.

"As kite flying gathers pace around August 15, there is a likelihood of kite strings getting entangled in the OHE (overhead equipment) wires or getting stuck in the pantograph (which draws power from OHE) of a moving train if kites are flown in the area of elevated metro lines," Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) Principal Executive Director Anuj Dayal said in an advisory.

"Such incidents have the potential to not only disrupt the metro services by damaging/tripping the OHE or pantograph but may also prove fatal to those flying kites with metallic maanjha," he said.

The DMRC has a robust mechanism in place to check and prevent any kind of disruptions and dedicated teams are deployed to swiftly remove any kite strings, he added.

Kite flying is a popular tradition in Delhi-NCR, especially around Independence Day and Raksha Bandhan.

"The DMRC also advises and appeals to the general public to refrain from flying kites in the immediate vicinity of elevated metro lines passing through residential areas for their own safety, as any direct or indirect contact with the 25,000 volt OHE may prove fatal besides leading to OHE tripping or damage to the metro train/pantograph, thereby, resulting into service disruptions," Dayal said.

To ensure the safety of all metro passengers and uninterrupted metro services, DMRC also advises the public to enjoy kite flying in open spaces away from metro lines, he said.

The DMRC presently operates a network of almost 400 kilometres in Delhi-NCR and it is primarily elevated with 25,000 voltage live OHE wires running parallel to the tracks for powering the trains for daily passenger services, according to officials.