GURGAON: Contrary to the announcement made by the state government officials, Rapid Metro is not going to be inaugurated on October 2.

Confirming this, commissioner for metro rail safety (CMRS) RK Kardam said, he hasn’t even looked at all the documents submitted by Rapid Metro officials. Without complete audit and his clearance, the authorities can’t launch the commercial operations. “I have yet not seen all the documents submitted by Rapid Metro. Only after auditing the documents can comment about when I would visit the site for final approval,” said RK Kardam.

Earlier, some state government authorities and Rapid Metro officials were trying to launch the operations on October 2. “It would have coincided well with the trial run that was launched on the same date last year by Haryana chief minister,” said a local government official. However, without the CMRS permission, the commercial operations might even get postponed by a month or so.

A highly placed source said that the CM office is keen on launching Rapid Metro services on November 1 (Haryana Diwas). “Even if CMRS approval had come earlier, chief minister wasn’t keen on launching a major infrastructure project in the month of ‘shradh’. No auspicious work is done in this month. If we have waited for so long, we might as well wait for few more days,” said an official close to the developments. However, when asked, if the CM believes in superstition and bad omen, he declined to respond.

On September 24, Rapid Metro CEO and MD Sanjiv Rai had said, “We have met the CMRS and have requested him to come and inspect the line. We are hoping that he would come anytime in the next few days. After his approval, we will start commercial operations within a day.”

A source in the CMRS office said the commissioner has not liked the way Haryana government officials have tried to announce the launch date without the mandatory safety approvals. “The state government seems to have little respect for safety audit and inspection. They are busy announcing date of operation as per their own wishes. This is the first metro being constructed by a private agency in India. Safety check-ups have to fool-proof,” he said.

He added: “They have also presumed that everything will be approved the day CMRS visits the line. What if there are some queries. What if some changes or improvements are needed. Even in DMRC lines, he had asked for improvements when he found them necessary”.

When asked, Haryana government officials refrained from officially commenting on the issue.

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