Bombay High Court Disposes of PIL Alleging Inferior Quality of Pune Metro Stations, Passes Strictures Against MahaMetro And COEP
Mumbai/Pune, 17th April 2023: The Bombay High Court today disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed against the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) by two Pune-based structural engineers, Narayan Kochak and Shirish Khasbardar. The PIL alleged that the metro stations constructed in Pune by MMRCL were of inferior quality and endangered public safety.
During the hearing, the counsel for the College of Engineering Pune (COEP) stated that they had already submitted their report on 10th March 2023 and would submit their final report within a week. The court took note of the same and directed Maha Metro to act on the report.
After considering the submissions, the court disposed of the PIL, with observations that Maha Metro must take appropriate actions based on the COEP’s report.
The PIL filed by the structural engineers alleged that the MMRCL had compromised on the quality of construction of metro stations in Pune, which posed a threat to public safety. This PIL had raised concerns over the structural integrity of the metro stations and had sought a thorough investigation into the matter.
One of the petitioners, Narayan Kochak, said, “In light of the High Court’s observations regarding the endangerment of the lives of Punekars, Brijesh Dixit and Atul Gadgil should resign from Maha Metro, or the State and Central Government should ask them to do so. Maha Metro and COEP have shown a callous approach in matters related to public safety. We hereby renew our demand for an independent authority outside of Maharashtra to conduct a probe, as the court has not dismissed the PIL but passed an order on it.”
“The High Court passed strictures and directed MahaMetro and COEP to take matters related to public safety seriously, and granted liberty to the petitioners to approach the court if they find any gaps in the final report submitted by COEP. With these observations, the court disposed of the PIL and did not dismiss it,” said the petitioners’ lawyers Ashish Patankar, Pratik Rajopadhye, and Nikhil Dongre.
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