Kochi: Even as the Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) has launched efforts to rectify a major manufacturing defect identified in a pillar located at Pathadipalam, it has mysteriously refrained from ordering an investigation by an independent agency.

When the Palarivattom flyover in Kochi had developed a defect soon after its construction, experts from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, had carried out a study before the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) carried out renovation.

The defective pillar

A geotechnical study had unearthed a gap between the concrete piles and the rock beneath the pillar number 347 of the Kochi Metro railway line. The rock is situated 10 meter below marshy water, but dangerously the piles are not touching the rock but resting on mud. It was also found that there is a gap of one meter between the rock and the pile. As a result, the pillar located at Pathadipalam near Edapally is tilting.

The DMRC nd the L&T were in charge of the construction.

Major lapse

According to construction rules, piling has to be done up to the underground rock before concreting. If rock is not reached, the area at the base of the piling should be strengthened.

At the Pathadipalam pillar, the rock was a mere 10 m below the ground. Incidentally, piling was done even to depths of 40-50 m along the M G Road stretch of the Kochi Metro. This makes the deficiency at Pathadipalam a case of very serious negligence, said experts.

At present, Kochi Metro trains do not ply along the track over pillar 347 considering the risk.