Case Study on Metro Rail

Case study on metro rail

NEW DELHI - The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has sacked official in-charge of the Badarpur Metro line, Vijay Anand, for neglecting his duty, following shocking collapse of an under construction Metro pillar in south Delhi. Six persons were killed and 15 others injured when an under-construction bridge of the Delhi Metro collapsed on Sunday. The collapse had prompted DMRC chief E Sreedharan to resign owing the moral responsibility for the worst mishap involving the modern transport system. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Lieutenant Governor Tejinder Khanna had rejected Sreedharan’s resignation, saying the city needed the man to continue his work. The accident took place at around 5 am when a pillar of the bridge gave in during some construction work near Lady Sriram College in South Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar. Four labourers and a 28-year-old engineer of Gammon India, the contractor of the project, were killed in the mishap, the second such incident in nine months. DMRC set up a four-member committee to examine reasons for the accident and it would submit its report in 10 days. Addressing a press conference here, the 77-year-old Sreedharan expressed "lot of pain and remorse" over the accident in south Delhi. The bridge that collapsed Sunday was part of an elevated section of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's (DMRC) new route on the Central SecretariatBadarpur section. The incident took place at around 5 a.m. at the construction site at Zamrudpur near Amar Colony. A launching girder along with a portion of the bridge set up on pre-fabricated pillars collapsed. Five people were killed and 15 were injured in the accident. The section was slated to be open September 2010, a month before the Commonwealth Games next year.

Crack in Delhi Metro's pillar caused accident: Construction workers New Delhi: A large crack in a pillar of the under construction bridge of the Delhi Metro in south Delhi could have caused its collapse early Sunday, killing five people, say workers engaged at the accident site. Five people, including a site engineer, were killed and 15 were injured in the accident that took place at around 5 a.m. at Zamrudpur near East of Kailash, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) officials said. Thirty workers of the contractor company Gammon India Ltd were present at the construction site when the bridge collapsed. Many strongly criticised Gammon and DMRC authorities for negligence saying they had complained several times about a faulty pillar. Said Kishan, a construction worker present at the site: "There was a crack in the pillar and we had complained to authorities on various occasions. The engineers came and suggested that support should be given to the pillar by inserting wires and putting boulders against the pillar." Another worker said: "We told them that the crack was there and if not corrected the pillar would be faulty and would cause the segment to come crashing down - now it has." Even residents of nearby residential colonies say they had seen a "visible crack". A resident of Amar Colony, who identified himself as Dr. Tiwari, told IANS: "There must have been something faulty with the design. Because we had seen a very visible crack in the pillar. We thought the stretch was still underconstruction so we did not bother - but now this! Officials will have to probe the negligence of the Metro and the contractor company." Meanwhile, metro officials have held that the incident occurred because the launching girder of a segment of the bridge lost balance. "The incident took place between pillars 66 and 67 when the pillar cap was affected. Ten segments were to be erected on the stretch of which five had been completed. When the sixth segment was being erected, the launching girder collapsed due to disbalance causing a portion of the bridge to fall," DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal said.

Case on 13th july09 New Delhi, July 13 (IANS) Six people were injured Monday in a second accident involving Delhi Metro in as many days, ironically at the very site where a disaster a day earlier killed six people and prompted its chief E. Sreedharan to resign on moral grounds. The six were injured when they fell during a panic run triggered by the collapse of four huge cranes while moving a 31-metre-long steel girder that had tilted dangerously after Sunday’s disaster in Zamrudpur area of south Delhi, officials said. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) identified the six injured as Manish Datta, Satnam Singh, Kailsah Singh, Dharmendra Singh and Atiq Khan. The latest tragedy occurred when about 200 metro workers and engineers were gathered at the site to remove tonnes of debris and divert traffic in view of the earlier fatal accident. Suddenly, one after another, the cranes came crashing down amid a deafening roar. Within moments everyone started to run from the site, fear writ large on their faces. There was a near stampede. Delhi Metro Rail Corp (DMRC) explained later that a mechanical snag in one of the cranes was to blame for the incident that miraculously killed none. The arms of three of the cranes snapped while one monster crane tilted and ended up standing on its head, DMRC spokesman Anuj Dayal told reporters. In the process the girder crashed on a row of shops, crushing three of them. Luckily, the shops were shut. Their stunned owner, Deshraj Chowdhry told IANS: “The government should take steps to prevent such accidents.” DMRC chief Sreedharan announced he was withdrawing the resignation he submitted Sunday following appeals from top officials including Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. Dayal said Sreedharan received a letter Sunday night from Dikshit urging him to continue in the post. The chief minister later said: “He is a very eminent person. He has done so much work. We want him and everyone wants him.” Sreedharan inspected the accident site twice Monday but did not attend the usual weekly meeting of the DMRC in the morning. The government said it had set up an enquiry to find out what went wrong Sunday. A team of independent experts has been asked to submit a report in 10 days. DMRC said its engineers and technicians were working out how to dismantle the tilted girder on the elevated section of the metro track that gave way Sunday, raining tonnes of concrete and metal. Traffic on the road over which the track was being built has been halted. One lane of the road will be opened by Tuesday afternoon for traffic while the other should open in six to seven days, the company said.

DMRC admitted that the latest mishap was a setback to get work restarted at the project site that links central Delhi with Badarpur in the extreme southern fringe of the capital. Sunday’s disaster that killed six people and injured 15 workers, two of who are still reported to be in critical condition, was the worst accident in Delhi Metro’s history. One of the men battling for life is Amar Singh, who sustained serious head injuries and internal bleeding. The collapsing girder Sunday caused a huge crater and burst underground water pipes, starving residential areas of potable water. The accidents found an echo in the Indian parliament Monday where Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy praised Delhi Metro’s safety record and denied that the company was in a hurry to complete the project ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Gammon India, contractors to Delhi Metro, denied any lapse on their part and said they would cooperate with the official investigation. Delhi Metro operates three hugely popular lines connecting the northern, central, eastern and southwestern parts of Delhi. Around 800,000 commuters daily use the network covering a total of 190 km.

QUESTIONS Q.1) why do you think suddenly sequence of problems erupted in Delhi Metro? Do you think there is some problem in the commitment of leadership at the lower level lacking long term vision? Q.2) Do you think the decision of Mr. Sridharan was right to tender his resignation. Is it he has a owned the responsibility of the failure of systems or the move is out of frustration. Does it reflect on the crisis in leadership style? Q.3) The decision of the Chief Minister of Delhi Mrs. Shelia Dixit to defend him is a step in right direction. In which way it will boost the confidence of the leadership and what impact do you think it will have on the overall working of the organisation.

FACTS OF THE CASE  The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation sacked Vijay Anand official in-charge of the Badarpur Metro line, for neglecting his duty following collapse of an under construction Metro pillar in south Delhi in which Six persons were killed and 15 others injured.  The collapse had prompted DMRC chief E Sreedharan to resign owing the moral responsibility.  Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Lieutenant Governor Tejinder Khanna had rejected Sreedharan’s resignation saying that the city needed E Sreedharan to continue his work.  DMRC set up a four-member committee to examine reasons for the accident and it would submit its report in 10 days.  It was identified that crack in Delhi Metro's pillar caused accident.  The accident that took place at around 5 a.m. at Zamrudpur near East of Kailash, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) officials said.  Thirty workers of the contractor company Gammon India Ltd were present at the construction site when the bridge collapsed.  "The incident took place between pillars 66 and 67 when the pillar cap was affected. Ten segments were to be erected on the stretch of which five had been completed. When the sixth segment was being erected, the launching girder collapsed due to disbalance causing a portion of the bridge to fall," DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal said.

 Six people were injured Monday in a second accident involving Delhi Metro in as many days.  Dayal said Sreedharan received a letter Sunday night from Dikshit urging him to continue in the post. The chief minister later said: “He is a very

eminent person. He has done so much work. We want him and everyone wants him.”  Sreedharan inspected the accident site twice Monday but did not attend the usual weekly meeting of the DMRC in the morning.  Gammon India, contractors to Delhi Metro, denied any lapse on their part and said they would cooperate with the official investigation.  Delhi Metro operates three hugely popular lines connecting the northern, central, eastern and southwestern parts of Delhi. Around 800,000 commuters daily use the network covering a total of 190 km.

PROBLEMS VISIBLE 1. Lack of control 2. Preventive maintenence of equipment of contrctor not verified by statiary authority. 3. Lack of surprise inspection for work in progress by contractor. 4. Faileur to respond on public complains about cracks in pillars and safety issues. 5. Overload responsibility on key leader. 6. Lack of accountability of second anf third line of leadership. 7. Lack of data analysis of the information flowing from the system in force. 8. No inbuilt provisions listed for quick actions. 9. Lack of escalation of the faileurs in imlepementation of systems to the top. 10. Too much reliance on the contactor for execution of task without focus on the implementation of complaince of the system. 11. Total failuer of statuary body (Chieft inspector of factories) to ensure routine and surprise checks on the fitness of the cranes, and other sensitive instruments. 12. Lack of commitment of the lowers leadership in total adhearence for the implimentation of safety procedures and bylaws. 13. No provisions for surprise and on the spot checking of equipment and work in progress. 14. Typical "Chalta Hai" attitute. 15. Lack of clarity in the mind of contractor employees roles and the organisation goals. 16. Blame sharing atttitude of the lower leadership.

SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS Ans 1 ) According to me sequence of problems erupted in Delhi Metro because lack of check systems. On every metro the pillar maintainence should be counter checked and should be the responsibility of nearby metro station staff to do the same. Their should be more public awareness to dealt with such issues and stopping them to occur in near future. Also the preventive maintenance of the equipments contractor not verified by statuary authority and there were instances of failure to respond to public complaints about cracks and pillars. Commitment is missing at the lower level. Their was too much reliance on the contactor for execution of task without focus on the implementation of complaince of the system. Lack of commitment of the lowers leadership in total adhearence for the implimentation of safety procedures and bylaws. Also lack lusture attitude of concerned engineers managing site. There should have been a proper team for keeping a check through effective supervisions.

Ans 2) Shridharan the decision to resign on moral ground only but it was needed to improve lack of commitment of the lowers leadership for better results. This is because it is not only the top to supervise it is to monitor. It appears leadership development with clarity on vision and mission of DMRC was missing. It is not crisis leadership style but it is more on how a crisis can effect leadership style when the accountability of middle leadership is not transparent. The top must know every bit of the progress with pitfalls and a surprise random check system must be put at place to let the lower level feel their responsibility. Efforts have to be build a culture of commitment for organizational goal. Make every employrr feel critical aspect of his job and its link is the ultimate goal of the organization concept of internal customer satisfaction is important to develop the ability to become accountable to the ultimate customer.

A.3) The decision taken by the Chief Minister, Mrs. Sheila Dixit to defend him was a step in right direction. The ledership quality demonstrated by Smt Shiela Dixit is by staying cool, deposing faith in competence of the CEO and applying empathy. Also the focus laid was on the best available solution to restore the image of the country by taking quick action to restore normal working. This style of leadership of Shiela Dixit helped in boosting the confidence of Mr.

Shridharan. She supported her in a way and also motivated him also being a quick decision maker she averted crisis and restored faith. She expressed it by her decision that what has been done yet under his supervision was right and he is the best man to be the Chief of DMRC. The sudden change in attitude due to this stategy delivered results.