New Delhi, July 15: After two mishaps in as many days on the Zamrudpur stretch, work was finally going smoothly for Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) engineers and workers who cleared the debris throughout Tuesday.
With the site cordoned off, two lanes on one side of the road leading from Moolchand to Nehru Place was reopened to traffic by afternoon. The Nehru Place-Moolchand way is expected to be cleared by Wednesday, DMRC officials said. Traffic on this route is being diverted via East of Kailash for now.
Traffic towards Amar Colony, Lajpat Nagar, was restored both ways on Tuesday.
Unlike Sunday and Monday, there were fewer people around the cordoned-off area, which made work easy for both the police and Metro employees.
With nearly 200 workers and 30 engineers engaged in the clearing work, the 72-metre metallic launcher that had crashed on Sunday has been brought down on ground. It is now being broken into small pieces by 40 gas-cutters — 15 metres have already been dismantled, according to officials.
“The launcher is expected to be completely dismantled by tonight, or latest by early Wednesday morning,” DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal said. “Dismantling the concrete girder will take six days.”
Explaining the dismantling process, Dayal said, “The girder will be supported by special metallic trestles to ensure complete safety and concrete segments will then be cut with seven different types of diamond-disc, concrete-cutting machines and core cutting machines.”
Meanwhile, two additional 100-tonne cranes and four hydra-cranes with smaller capacity were also engaged at the site to lift and ferry debris and dismantled parts of the launcher. Two cranes that had crashed on Monday morning were removed from the site, while the one that had toppled was stabilised — it is expected to be moved out soon.
“Residents and shop owners in the vicinity who were evacuated after Sunday’s incident have been asked to return home as the site is nearly stabilised now,” Dayal said. “Bodies of all workers who died in Sunday’s accident have been sent (to their families). We have the compensation amounts ready to be deposited in their bank accounts.”
–Agencies