Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Fails to Comply with Environmental Regulations, Says New CAG Report

The DMRC is required to comply with various environmental provisions under the National Environment Policy, the Central Water Commission, the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, and Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act etc.

However, as per the CAG in its recent performance audit report on the implementation of Phase-III Delhi Mass Rapid Transit System by DMRC, it was observed that no environment clearance was obtained by DMRC for the Phase-III project even though it had constructed four metro car maintenance depots each having a built-up area of more than 20,000 sqm.

"General Guidelines for Water Audit & Water Conservation" by the Central Water Commission (2017) recommends water audit as an essential management tool for effective water conservation. DMRC Water Policy (2013) also minimises wastages by carrying out half-yearly water audits at selected stations and depots. However, as per the audit, "DMRC uses water for construction work and operation and maintenance purposes, but it did not conduct any water audits at stations, depots and construction sites from 2011 to March 31, 2020."

"It neither assessed the extent of water losses and efficiency of the system nor performed any cost-benefit analysis for optimum recovery of water. It also did not formulate a Water Management Plan," the report stated.

This happened despite the recommendation by Central Water Commission and Central Ground Water Board that supplies to industries should be from surface water, and if the groundwater supply is considered essential, it should be managed by a government agency.

A total of 1,74,550 trees were to be planted in place of 17,455 trees to be cut under compensatory afforestation by DMRC from 2011 to 2019. However, no site visit or inspection was conducted by DMRC officials from April 2011 to December 2018, and as a result, there aren't any proper records by the Forest Department and monitoring by DMRC. So, the audit could not verify whether Forest Department planted the required number of trees on behalf of DMRC.

Besides, noise levels were higher than permissible values at different locations of Line-7, the 58.596 km long stretch from Majlis Park to Shiv Vihar, as wheel profiling of rolling stock was being carried out after running some kilometres, the report added.

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The above article has been published from a wire agency with minimal modifications to the headline and text.