No judicial probe till DMRC report is in: Reddy

NEW DELHI: There is no possibility of a judicial inquiry into the Metro mishap which killed six people on Sunday till the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC)-instituted independent committee submits its report, the government told Lok Sabha on Monday.

"The government is not averse to a judicial inquiry into the Delhi Metro accident, but will await the report of the committee of experts set up by DMRC," urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy said.

The minister categorically ruled out any "deadline pressure" as the reason behind the incident. Reddy said Delhi Metro was not operating under any pressure to meet Commonwealth Games 2010 deadline and the government would not allow the quality of work to be compromised.

UD ministry sources indicated that no action would be taken against the contractor in a hurry. "Any decision will be taken only after the inquiry committee submits its report," an official said.

Reddy strongly defended the Delhi Metro's track record on safety. The minister said DMRC's safety record has been better than that of London and Singapore metros.

"The accident did not take place because of any hurry. We shall never compromise on the quality of work. A four-member committee has been formed to look into the matter," Reddy said.

The minister's statement came in response to a scathing attack by Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI) about violation of business ethics by the construction company in an attempt to finish the project before the Commonwealth Games.

The members of the probe committee are A K Nagpal of IIT-Delhi, two officials from DMRC Rajan Kataria, head of design cell, and Steven Lowry, project director for general construction. P R Bose of the Delhi College of Engineering is the fourth member of the committee.

"The estimated loss due to the accident is Rs 6 crore and work on the section will be delayed by three months. But the deadline of the Central Secretariat to Badarpur section remains unchanged," Reddy said.