On the Delhi Metro accident

Had this been any Minister or MoS who'd have resigned after some incident under his or her portfolio, everyone would've quickly insinuated the move as a political gimmick as the MP knows he or she will be re-elected and be able to retain their office (as Sonia Gandhi did in 2006 over the office-of-profit issue only to win the by-election by a whopping 4 lakh votes!) or have their resignation rejected by the PM. This enables the MP to ascend a high level of moral ground while retaining his or her portfolio. Left to themselves, our politicians would own up to nothing! They'd resign only after public disgust vehemently comes out in the open, as during the days after 26/11 when the top two of Maharashtra quit very reluctantly.

But the man in the picture these days is none other than Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur Elattuvallapil Sreedharan. The man is a 77 year old technocrat and project manager par excellence who has rightly been attributed the sobriquet 'Metro Man'. His meticulousness and quality consciousness is an example to all Civil engineers in India and abroad. This Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) MD's inner conscience spoke out the day after the Pier Cap of Pier #67 of the Delhi Metro phase II crumbled (due to faulty design, in all likeliness!) killing six workers on 12th of July. The septuagenarian put in his papers within hours. He rightly said before announcing his resignation: "... even one death is one too many". It's a coincidence that this great man I quoted in my previous blog written over a week ago is in the news today.

But I'd still say that only optimists would hope that our Ministers will hence remember this gesture and do likewise in the future when a botch-up takes place in their area of responsibility . To expect a precedent as having been set by Dr. Sreedharan is wishful thinking.

By the looks of things, swords are already out for Gammon India - the contractors and the designers of the elevated structure of Delhi Metro - even before the enquiry committee's report is out. The company responsible for the landmark building of Mumbai - Gateway of India - is drawing flak from all corners. Gammon is being panned for supposedly failing to adhere to safety measures at the construction site. This is ironic, if true, as Gammon India claims to be the only construction company in India to be accredited with ISO 9001:2000 certification for all fields of Civil engineering. The media is justifying its stand against Gammon India by the fact that it was this same firm which was held responsible for the Punjagutta flyover collapse in Hyderabad in 2007 which killed two people. Gammon has also been vilified for ignoring cracks that construction workers had noticed in the pier a week ago before the incident. And that despite DMRC maintaining that no complaint mentioning the above was registered with them.

Overnight, without a degree or a diploma in Civil engineering or site experience, one finds media-men talking like structural engineers and project management experts on the Delhi Metro bridge. To pin-point the entire blame on the contractors would be jumping the gun. One fact which hasn't been highlighted is that DMRC carries out detailed safety checks on its contractors. Visits to check compliance by the contractors on safety measures ar even made by the great man himself! Thus, the blame for the accident and subsequent loss of lives also falls on the Client. One can presume that the experienced DMRC chief acknowledged and admitted this while stepping down.

It is therefore an incident which requires careful examination and better left to the experts in the enquiry committee appointed by DMRC. They could do without over-the-top sensationalisation by the media which might influence their findings and indict the wrong party.

BAnDra to WOR(SE)li

Mumbai's new "monument" has finally been commissioned. Our media has rightly exalted the Bandra-Worli Sea Link as 'Mumbai's new monument'. One news channel in particular played a collage of Mumbai's other landmarks - Gateway of India, Taj Hotel, CST, the BSE - before zooming in on the BWSL. The media has got it spot on!.. even if they might not be aware of it. Let me explain. Note that there are two essential requirements for any structure to classify as a monument. One, it has to be a stand-out, unique feature in the skyline of the city. And two, it has to be old. This project fulfills both criteria. The fact that it took almost a decade helps it in meeting, or even overtaking, the second criterion.

Spanning over 5 km in length and 10 years in delays, this "engineering marvel" cost over four times its original estimate! What's particularly frustrating is that India's longest sea-link was not built on a Concession model (PPP) but wholly paid through Govt. grants and market borrowings by the MSRDC. The fact that communist China built seven such bridges, one of which is 32 km long in the same period, doesn't seem to deter Mumbaikars (or our patriotic media) from pagan celebrations. We might be the only nation who gets carried away with the "flow" so much that we turn oblivious to the many embarrassments associated with this project. One after another, newspapers today carried eulogies on the project that dragged so painfully slow that it was once touted a 'white elephant'. There were full page articles and ads sponsored by companies involved in the project "thanking" MSRDC and patting each other on their backs.

Very little coverage was given to the blunders. The project, as environmentalists and urban planning experts have pointed out, will have adverse externalities and will probably defeat its traffic easing purpose. On the environment front, the exit of the Mithi will get slightly narrowed due to the bridge's piers, thus increasing chances of water level rising dangerously high in the river. Besides, since the flyovers at the Worli side, where the bridge descends, have not been constructed, one can expect major congestion at the Worli end. A fire-fighting measure being adopted is that the traffic dispersal at Worli will be changed. This is bound to cause confusion among motorists as some routes will be permitted only during certain hours. Bandra too will have its share of traffic snarls as mentioned in this article. Besides this, the impact on the Worli Koliwada fishermen will only be known in the coming years.

Today, after three frustrating postponements, our benevolent leaders have at long last obliged and descended from their upper echelons in Nayi Dilli to inaugurate the much hyped phase I of the Western Freeway Sea Link. That the State elections are only months away makes this ribbon-cutting rank fairly high in opportunism. Yesterday night, on the auspicious time (8.10 pm) a fireworks and laser show from the BWSL. This extravagant show itself cost Rs. 9 crore! Guess MSRDC thought that after being duped of 1650 crore already it might as well throw in a little more for the galleries. The project involves numerous CCTVs at frequent intervals along its stretch and in the Toll Plaza. This is yet another example of misplaced priorities given that hardly any of Toll Plazas in Mumbai's five entry points have this surveillance facility!

All said, nothing can however stop our junta from flooding Twitter or Orkut and Facebook communities with patriotic zeal. Shortcomings aside, we'd rather concentrate on such mediocre pleasures.

P.S: Here's an excerpt from an interview of E. Sreedharan (Delhi Metro) by Reuters on 3rd July, '09:

'Despite the Delhi metro's success, Sreedharan said India lags far behind Asia's other emerging economic giant, China, in fast implementation, often because of New Delhi's short-sighted planning, a lack of political will and government interference.

"That vision or determination that things should move fast, that's not available in our country,"...."Unfortunately what is happening is that everybody wants to control things. Nobody wants to take responsibility."

A "dressing down"

Has it happened to you? Ever shown up in an inappropriate dress or some attire that “elders” frown upon? Sure it hasn’t! It’s not necessary that embarrassments (E) I’ve had are run-of-the-mill types that strike commoners. See, everyone has the right to an encounter or two with Mr. E.  But single digits aside, I have already, dime-a-dozen rendezvous with dishonour in my life. But this one incident in particular took the cake, ate it and fed the crumbs to the friendly neighbourhood kuttas.

It was a Midsummer day’s dream reality when the mercury touched 36 deg. by noon on the auspicious occasion of Mahavir Jayanti , a holiday in college, and I had a Maha encounter with Morul Pulees! Although in this case the enforcers were not some Saffron-clad motley crew but my college Dean himself. This Pulees Sub-Inspector “caught” me in the “act” of wearing a knee length half pant in the college library. Jai Ho! Expecting a deserted campus, I nonchalantly put on my blue tee, my black shorts and landed in the library. That time there was yet another meeting (sic) taking place among the Director and the Faculty (remove the ‘c’) members of this great institute of mine (a.k.a The 8th IIM) in the same place. Sir Phani barged in to scan the book shelf for any latest issues of a monthly. But quickly realising my mis-step or -take, I mumbled “sorry sirs”, left that under- ventilated enclosure and sat in a classroom. I suspect that it was during my interruption that the Gurus caught a glimpse of my provocative, woolly calves for the first time. Moments later, the librarian called me for some work for which I came near the counter. It was that very moment that the Dean (not exactly Deen dayaalu) happened to pass by. A double take and a few seconds later, he called me into the office, mano-a-mano, and told me: “I know today is a holiday but when you come to the college you should NOT come in such casuals. In your home or wherever outside it’s fine but here you just can’t enter in casuals.” A few breaths later he ended with: “Please remember there are women here in the campus (my fav. line). Don’t repeat this.” I replied with a straight face: “I understand, sir. Sorry”. We then dispersed. Jai Ho!

The hit movie song from ‘John-hai-tu-ya-John-hai-na’ named after me started playing in my ears: “But Phani can’t expose saala!” Now in the aftermath of such a red-in-the-face moment, a typical reaction from any other bloke would have been: Old people, generation gap, etc, etc. But Phani, as you are already aware, is far from your daily urban bumpkin. A deeper analysis reveals a startling fact (startling to YOU, re-narration of a truism for me). That the prime trigger behind my Dean’s fervent appeal to me was the features of my legs, below the knees, were simply too attractive to be ignored. They were a hazard to anyone’s concentration. They could have served as a major distraction to unsuspecting ladies who were diligently surfing their Orkut and Facebook accounts or chatting up “old friends” using the college landlines. One only shudders to think the mass misdirection that would have ensued had the girls from my class and among the juniors turned out in full force. “Full force” might have been exactly what they would need to restrain themselves. Another possible cause of beguilement could be the envious boys who could have cast an envious eye on my legs. They would have a hard time holding back their ladies. Both of them might even start “pulling my legs”, one literally speaking, one figuratively.

This incident thus left me wiser. So far I was unmindful of my tempting twosome and took no notice of the hazards of my over gorgeousness. But no more! I took the sage advice and solemnly resolved that no more shall I leave my calves unattended especially in any place bustling with members of the opposite sex no matter how much the weather demands minimum clothing. The SI of the Morul Pulees did me a favour.

Joy Ho!