BJP demands judicial probe into mishaps at Metro sites

The BJP today demanded judicial probe into the recent mishaps at Metro construction sites in the city and criticised DMRC chief E Sreedharan for "publicly" rejecting the CAG report on functioning of the rail network.
    
Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly V K Malhotra also blamed the government for not tabling the 2007 CAG report on the DMRC in Parliament on time.

"Although a committee has been set up to probe the mishap at Zamrudpur, we strongly feel a judicial enquiry should be formed to probe the cause of the mishaps," he told reporters.

He said Metro construction sites have witnessed a number of accidents from the last one year and the DMRC should have taken appropriate measures to ensure safety.

Terming as "double-standards", the Delhi Metro's response to the CAG report, the BJP leader said "Sreedharan who has such a big stature should not have made adverse comments on the report".
    
Sreedharan yesterday attacked the CAG for its report on the transport system, saying the government auditor's job is to find fault but it has no responsibility to deliver.

He said the Government's decision not to table the CAG report in 2007 in Parliament raises the question of "privilege" and in this process the Delhi Government is also to be blamed.

Malhotra suggested that instead of speaking publicly, the Metro chief should have given reply to Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament.
   
"If the judicial enquiry is being set up then any compromise on quality after 2006 will come out," he said.

"PAC is the correct platform to speak on the issue. Instead of commenting on the report publicly, Sreedharan should have answered questions of the Committee members," the BJP MLA, who was the chairman of the PAC two years back, said.
    
"If the CAG report had been tabled in Parliament in 2007, then the shortcomings would have been discussed and no untoward incidents would have happened," Malhotra said.

However, he parried a direct reply when asked whether the judicial enquiry will lead to delay in the Metro projects.
    
Malhotra also took a potshot at prime minister Manmohan Singh for "belying" on his promise of containing inflation and putting the country on the road of economic recovery within the first 100 days of the UPA's second term.
    
"The past two months have seen relentless appreciation in the price index of almost every major commodity. In the last six months, prices of pulses have increased by 30-70 per cent and vegetables by 100-400 per cent, but the Government has indexed the rate of inflation at -1.21 per cent," he added.