DIAL, DMRC trade charges over pipeline damage

The Delhi Airport authorities and DMRC today traded charges over the damage to a pipeline that had crippled the air conditioning system of the Terminal 1 on July 8 during metro construction work.
While DIAL sources said that the incident could have been bigger had the "Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) damaged high tension wires passing "near the pipeline", Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) dismissed the claims saying there was no TBM within two kilometres of the site in question.
"Tunnelling in this area has been completed long back. Since, there is no TBM in the vicinity; the question of a TBM operator committing any mistake does not arise. Ongoing work was excavation for construction of entry exit structures," DMRC said in a statement.

Sources claimed, apart from the pipeline, damage was caused to some low tension wires as well.
DMRC sources instead blamed DIAL for failing to provide it the exact location of the pipeline, which it said, was the primary reason behind the damage, that had forced hundreds of passengers using the domestic terminal to suffer a sweaty ordeal.
"The construction work was taking place away from the high tension wires and absolutely no danger was anticipated. The work in that area is being done entirely in consultation with DIAL and also the repair works have been carried out in the presence of officials from both the organisations," metro said.

The incident had happened when a chilled water supply line to the terminal building's air conditioning system was damaged due to construction work of an upcoming metro station.

They alleged that the incident happened due to the negligence of TBM operator, who tried to bore through different angles when he met with some resistance due to the presence of the pipeline.
Flyers waiting to catch flights at the Terminal 1D of Indira Gandhi International Airport here suffered a sweaty ordeal as the building's air-conditioning system stopped on July 8 afternoon.
Around 30,000 passengers fly in and out of the airport's 1D domestic terminal, used by IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir airlines, every day.

The upcoming station named Terminal 1D, which serves low-cost domestic carriers, will be on the 34.2-km Janakpuri West (Delhi)-Botanical Garden (Noida) corridor of the metro, on which trial runs are expected to begin by September.