Running late- With contractor leaving, metro stares at more delay

CHENNAI: Work on the metro rail network in the city has run into trouble again. Building of tunnels under Anna Salai has come to a standstill after Mosmetrostroy , the Russian company which was working in a joint venture with Gammon India, abandoned work. This will further delay the project in which underground lines are supposed to be completed by end of this year.
The joint venture is building tunnels and underground stations from Government Estate to Saidapet in a contract worth Rs 1,947crore.Mosmetrostroy was tasked with building tunnels because of its technological knowhow, while Gammon is building underground stations.
Sources said the Russian firm is suspected to have walked out of the project because of losses. The staff have abandoned the equipment and left. Contractors who supplied material and equipment to the company on Monday staged protest in ront of the CMRL headquarters in Koyambedu demanding that the state government pay the Rs 29 crore due to them from Mosmetrostroy .
A senior Chennai Metro Rail Ltd official said, “Around 70% of the tunnelling work has been completed on the stretch. We have issued notices to Mosmetrostroy and Gammon and have also contacted the Russian Consulate. Gammon may have to take up the work. We may have to ask other foreign companies involved in tunnel work for other contractors to chip in."
More than 90% of the work between Saidapet and Gemini was completed. The exit of Russian company Mosmetrostroy without completing the work assigned to it work assigned to it has plunged metro rail in a crisis at a time when there is only 8km of tunnels left to be completed in the 45km twin corridor project.
The company was building tunnels between LIC and Gemini when its officials and staff started to withdraw. This has forced metro rail officials to look for steps to ensure that the work can continue as calling a fresh contract may take a lot of time. As Mosmetrostroy was in a joint venture with Gammon India, the Indian company will have to bear the responsibility of completing the rest of the tunnels. The crisis will delay the underground line further. It was already delayed by more than a year.
Trouble was brewing for sometime in the Gammon-Mosmetrostroy joint venture. Sources said metro rail officials noticed that work was going slow a few months ago and suspected that the contract would fail but did not suspend the contract because it would be tough to find a new company to build leftover work of making tun nels. The company was struggling at the time because of shortage of funds due to losses incurred in other projects.
“The companies were warned and told to speed up work. A few foreign companies have the expertise to build tunnels. This makes it difficult to take action against them if they fail to adhere to deadlines," said a metro rail official. All the tunneling contracts for the 36km underground line are taken up by Indian companies in joint ventures with foreign firms. The foreign company built the tunnels while the Indian firm built underground stations.
A Gammon official said, “Metro rail will have to decide who should take up the work.We can take over if needed."
Small contractors who supplied sand, solid blocks, earthmovers and other equipment have claimed that Mosmetrostroy should give them Rs 29crore. “We met metro rail officials and demanded that they should pay our dues. But they are hesitating because Mosmetrostroy has not given them any indication about the future," said a contractor.
A metro rail official said, “We need a combined request from Mosmetrostroy and Gammon to release funds allotted for them to pay the small contractors. We do not have proof about the quantity and nature of material supplied."