Over a month after it failed to get the mandatory safety clearance, the Airport Express Line of Delhi Metro is set to begin operations later this month.
“We are expecting that the line will open soon, within this month. Our part of the work is over. Now, it is up to Reliance,” said a senior Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) official. A team of DMRC officials has already completed inspection of the line, according to him.
A subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure (R-Infra), Delhi Airport Metro Express Pvt Ltd (DAMEPL) has to get the operations of the 22-kilometre high-speed line ready under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode. DMRC has completed the civil construction work for the line, according to the agreement between the two parties.
Last week, R-Infra wrote a letter to DMRC, asking it to facilitate an invitation to the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS), R K Kardam, to carry out final safety checks before the line was opened for operations, the official said.
“As per the contract, Reliance has to invite CMRS for inspection. In this case, however, we are helping them out. They have requested us to facilitate an invitation to CMRS for inspection,” the official said. The CMRS is likely to inspect the line next week, according to him.
In September, the Airport Express Line failed to get safety clearance from the CMRS owing to technical glitches. DMRC said those issues had been taken care of. DAMEPL was also imposed a fine of Rs 11.25 crore by DMRC after it missed the August 31 deadline.
According to the concession agreement, DAMEPL was supposed to make the Airport Express Line operational by July 31. In view of the slow progress, DMRC extended the deadline to August 31.
The line was scheduled to be opened to the public before the beginning of the Commonwealth Games, but could not be, as it failed to get safety clearance from the CMRS.
On September 30, DMRC imposed the Rs 11.25-crore penalty on DAMEPL and gave its three days to pay.
“DMRC had earlier imposed the fine on us and we have disputed the levy of penalty. We have taken up the issue with DMRC,” a Reliance spokesperson said in an email reply to a questionnaire sent by Business Standard.
Asked whether the delay in the opening of the line had tarnished its image, a senior official from DMRC said, “Yes. Not that we are happy about it. But this is what happens in a PPP project. We are helpless about it. The actual cost of this delay is being borne by the concessionaire, who is losing out on revenue.”
