NAGPUR (Metro Rail News): Prashant Pawar, Jai Jawan Jai Kisan activist has alleged that the quality of Metro stations was poor as rainwater had entered them and that the roof was leaking in some places.
On Wednesday addressing a press conference he said, furnished photographs of water inside the stations. “Water had entered the pump room of Airport South stations. It had also entered the escalators. This raises questions over the safety certificate issued by the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS). Pawar said, The present CMRS Janak Kumar Garg was an employee of MahaMetro and his appointment has been made to give the Metro agency a free hand”.
Rainwater enters metro station 
A Metro spokesperson said “Pawar seems unaware of CMRS certification process. Garg was appointed to the post well after MahaMetro got a certificate for the commercial operation of Reach I. Moreover, CMRS is selected by Appointment of Cabinet Committee (ACC) and we have no role in it. Is Pawar questioning the union cabinet”?
Admitting that water had entered in some stations and seepage and leakage had taken place, the official said the contractor would be penalized if the quality of work was not satisfactory. The activist slammed MahaMetro for spending Rs85 lakh on the renovation of the bungalow of its managing director Brijesh Dixit. “Expenditure incurred on it is relatively lesser as compared to other government bungalows. Moreover, when this decision to shift was taken, the guesthouse was in a dilapidated condition and needed urgent repairs at all levels,” said the spokesperson.
Pawar seems to have got many facts wrong. According to Pawar, two trains of Hyderabad Metro were leased by MahaMetro because it was run by a private company. When pointed out that only Hyderabad Metro trains were compatible with that of Nagpur, he parried the question. He claimed that MahaMetro had not floated an advertisement for appointing a general consultant for Pune Metro. When he was shown the relevant document, he claimed that it was not available on MahaMetro’s website, but it is at number 5.
