CoEP to conduct re-audit of Pune metro project to clear name

PUNE

In a bid to douse the controversy that arose in connection with its structural audit of the Pune metro project, the College of Engineering Pune (CoEP) Technological University on Sunday moved to set the record straight. It issued an official statement that read, “Errors will be detected in the process from acceptance of the work to submission of the preliminary report, and the metro project will be re-examined by a committee of expert professors and a report will be submitted.”

The statement read, “The CoEP Technological University (erstwhile College of Engineering Pune) has been leveraging the potential expertise of its faculty for core consultancy assignments from the industry, defence and public departments for providing technological and cost-effective solutions. The Pune metro project is one of the ambitious projects for the infrastructural development of the city with the potential to favourably impact the traffic and other planning issues of the city. Dr Ishwar Sonar, on behalf of CoEP Tech, appears to have undertaken the audit work and submitted his interim inspection report to the Maha Metro. However, it came to the notice of the university that the submitted interim report was doubted in the print media in terms of perceived technical errors.”

“Since the name and reputation of the CoEP is involved, the administration of CoEP Tech has taken the entire issue very seriously and thus decided to redo the structural audit with a different team of experts at CoEP and submit the detailed final report at the earliest to the metro authorities through proper channel of the university. Meanwhile, immediate action has been initiated by the university to investigate any lapses in the process of undertaking this assignment, up to the submission of the interim report,” the statement further read.

Earlier, several errors were detected in the Garware College, Nal Stop, Anand Nagar and Vanaz metro stations even as work on the Pune metro project is currently underway. Soon after, structural engineer Narayan Kochak; project management consultant Shirish Khasbardar; Konkan Railway Corporation former managing director Ketan Gokhale; and Hyderabad Metro Rail former managing director Vivek Gadgil; dashed off a letter to Maha Metro managing director Brijesh Dixit in this regard. They also attached 50 photographs of the errors that they found during their visits to these metro stations along with the letter. Meanwhile, these engineers approached the high court in this matter.

On its part, the Maha Metro claimed that the structures (stations) were completely safe despite the flaws and fixed them. Thereafter, the CoEP Technological University carried out a structural audit and submitted its report saying that the metro stations were safe. However, questions were once again raised by the people prompting the CoEP to announce a re-audit.

CoEP vice-chancellor professor Mukund Sutaone said, “CoEP Tech, with its legacy and reputation, commits to avoiding such recurrences and ensures its best services to the stakeholders and the society at large. Hence, we will be carrying out a re-audit of the Pune metro project and submitting a new report on the same.”