Thaindian News

New Delhi, Nov 29 (IANS) The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), facing a number of technical glitches in recent days, is implementing special measures to tackle emergency situations like breakdowns and fires, an official said Monday.

In November, services on the busy Jahangirpuri-Gurgaon line were disrupted twice due to problem in the overhead electrification, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at various stations.

DMRC has now installed fire and explosion resistant lights, cross passages, ventilation facilities and water pipelines inside tunnels. A disaster management manual has also been given to DMRC employees.

Explaining the features, a DMRC official said: “During emergency situations such as when a Metro gets stuck in a tunnel due to major technical faults, the lights will be helpful in evacuating people.”

According to the official, the lights can be switched on directly from the station control rooms of the nearby Metro stations.

Meanwhile, the cross-passages inside tunnels will help in the evacuation of passengers if a train gets stuck. Each underground section is equipped with one to three cross-passages between the up and down tunnels.

“The cross-passages will help in speedy evacuation of commuters in case of an emergency,” the official added.

Almost 50 km of Delhi Metro’s 150 km network is underground and tunnels have provision of water supply. The water pipeline runs along the entire underground Metro corridor.

“These pipelines have hydrants fixed every 15 metres where hose pipes can be connected. The pipes are of great help to quickly extinguish any fire outbreak,” the official added.

Apart from this, tunnel ventilation fan boosters are installed at all Metro stations which supply air inside the tunnels.