CMRL may miss the mid-July deadline to start services on the Koyambedu-St Thomas Mount line, with work on its stations way behind schedule. The line is likely to open only in October, officials said. Sources said that the contract to construct the stations with Consolidated Construction Consortium Ltd (CCCL) is on the verge of falling apart as the company has failed to meet the deadline, causing a serious setback for CMRL, which intended its first corridor to be the projects showpiece. Officials said that CCCL should have completed the elevated viaducts and stations in the corridor this month so that the trial runs could begin early January, according to the original plan. The transit system can be opened to the public only after three months of intensive trials because, unlike suburban trains, the metro rakes are automated and will work on a pre-set information. In 2010 and 2011, CCCL was awarded the contract of ` 300 crore to design and build elevated metro stations in Koyambedu, CMBT, Arumbakkam, Vadapalani, Ashok Nagar, SIDCO, Alandur and St Thomas Mount. But, the work by the firm has grounded to a crawl. Only a handful of workers remain at the St Thomas Mount station site, and they appear to have little to do. At some sites, CCCL is three months behind schedule. The company has also been given the contract for elevated stations in Guindy, Little Mount and OTA, and has had more time to complete work here. CCCL has however completed the structural work in Koyambedu, CMBT, Vadapalani, Arumbakkam and Ashok Nagar, and has now started the interior work. But, it is a long way from completing the basic structure for the stations at SIDCO, Alandur and St Thomas Mount, though it bagged the contract over two years ago. Sources said that other contractors like Gammon are also finding it hard to keep up the pace of work. CMRL terminated a contract with Lanco Infratech to build an elevated stretch between the airport and OTA, because the company did not finish much work even after 70 percent of the contract period. Officials of CMRL wanted firms building other stretches to take up the job, but they were not interested. CMRL then divided the stretch and floated fresh tenders
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 11:03:54 +0000
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