Metro Hurdles: Geography, Geology, Goodwill

Time of India

21 hours ago

New Delhi: The construction of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's new corridor, RK Ashram Marg to Janakpuri West, aimed at easing the city's perpetual traffic woes, is turning out to be a challenge at old Delhi's Sadar Bazar.
There are thousands of aged, crumbling buildings crammed into the area, with many of lacking proper foundations. A building in Mithaipul collapsed early on July 11, killing one person, and alarming the shop owners in the market.
After the Mithaipul incident, DMRC sealed another building last week which houses almost 200 shops, drawing the ire of traders. Karan Sethi, whose plastic items shop was sealed on July 18, said he didn't know when he could reopen his shop.
"My GST documents are locked in the shop. Our customers are going elsewhere. We have no idea how long our business will remain affected," he grumbled.
A DMRC official said, "In view of the unavailability of space on the surface, the metro line will go underground in the area." He added that the area between Nabi Karima and Sadar Bazar, where a 2km stretch under construction, was an extremely congested part of old Delhi. "This area is home to thousands of dilapidated buildings which have not been built as per standard building norms.
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DMRC has also encountered extremely complex geology in this region apart from dilapidated structures above the surface," he said.
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Anuj Dayal, principal executive director, corporate communications, DMRC, said the presence of layers of mica schist along with the rock fragments makes the strata complex. "Unlike the rocks, mica schist is extremely weak and brittle in nature," he pointed out. "The water table in the area is also high, which means that during work underground, we frequently encounter water, which obstructs the smooth progress of work.
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Dayal maintained that the buildings in the area had no drawings available, and in most cases, multiple floors had been built without proper foundation. "Further, the buildings are mostly non-engineered. Most of these structures also house unauthorised basements which are used as godowns," he claimed.
The tunnelling work, along with the construction of the Sadar Bazar station at a depth of 22 metres, will take around a year more to complete.
Traders are concerned about the loss to business during this phase. Rakesh Yadav, president, Federation of Sadar Bazar Traders' Association, said, "Following the collapse of the building, DMRC sealed another building with nearly 200 shops, impacting the livelihood of shop owners and employees.
Even their documents and goods are stored in the shop." He added that the association had a meeting with DMRC officials on Wednesday and were assured that buildings would be de-sealed after a survey on their safety was conducted on Friday.
When DMRC started tunnelling around two years ago, they put up scaffolding outside and inside some shops. "The construction of the rail track has left the ground beneath my shop hollow. We fear that once the scaffolding and other support are removed, our building will be damaged," said hardware shop owner Lalit Chaudhary. He also said he had problems unloading goods because the lane outside his shop had narrowed due to the metro construction.
Shop owner Prem Goel claimed that the construction work has worsened waterlogging in the area. Mukesh Saxena similarly complained, "My bill books and other documents were soaked when water entered my shop."
The train company, however, said the evacuation of some buildings was purely undertaken as a precautionary measure. "DMRC is in continuous touch with the market association and building occupants. The occupants will be allowed to return as soon as the structures are assessed as safe for occupancy," said Dayal.
"DMRC carries out precautionary evacuation of the buildings whenever deemed necessary for a temporary period.
Besides, some of the dilapidated structures have been provided scaffolding as an additional measure to avoid any further distress to the existing structures during the metro construction. Exhaustive instrumentation has been done to ensure regular monitoring of the structures."
Dayal said the basement built without authorisation, including cantilever extensions to the structures, were already in dangerous condition.
Therefore, DMRC was planning to chalk out a strategy in consultation with local associations and nodal govt agencies, taking into account the exigencies at hand, to ensure that the tunnelling work and other construction were completed without causing any damage to personnel and materials.
He added that this area had always faced challenges of waterlogging even prior to the commencement of work by DMRC, mainly because of the non-availability of stormwater drains in the area.
Commenting on the building that collapsed on July 11, DMRC sources said an investigation found that the structures had foundations of only about 2 metres depth. "There were no piles even though rocky strata along with loose soil lay below. Therefore, it can be concluded that these structures were practically floating on the surface with no foundation support at all. Thousands of cubic metres of concrete have also already been inserted through grouting to make the area safe," an official claimed.