Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Monday said it is facilitating comfortable journeys for commuters at 24 degrees Celsius amid the scorching heat and added that the daily ridership this May hit a high for the month with 60.17 lakh passengers.
With over 4,200 train trips running around 1.40 lakh kilometres daily, the DMRC is providing passengers much-needed relief with its pleasant commuting experience, the agency added in a statement.
The average daily passenger journeys observed in May was record high this year at 60.17 lakh, against the 52.41 lakh recorded in May last year, according to the release.
To help its staff cope with heat, the DMRC said it has started providing breaks to the workforce during the afternoons due to the ongoing heat wave.
"Other necessary provisions such as drinking water, medical facilities have also been made available at all our sites. We are ensuring that the workforce is not exposed to excessive heat. All project managers have been instructed to monitor that these instructions are stringently adhered to by the contractors," the metro agency said.
At present, the DMRC has a fleet of over 345 trains with around 5,000 AC units installed in them. To ensure that all AC units give their optimum performance during peak summers, a comprehensive check up for these AC units is done before the onset of summers in March every year, the statement said.
All underground stations are also equipped with state-of-art building management system (BMS) and chiller plan manager (CPM) for remote monitoring and control of the AC units. This system constantly monitors the ambient and station temperature in real time and maintains the station temperature between 25 and 27 degrees Celsius, even when outside temperatures range from 45 to 50 degrees Celsius, it stated.
Regular inspections are being conducted on infrastructure components sensitive to heat, such as escalators and lifts, to prevent malfunctions. The frequency of maintenance checks for heat-sensitive equipments is also increased during such period, the DMRC said.
To prevent any incident of fire which is a common phenomenon during heat waves, the DMRC has a robust mechanism of fire extinguishers and hoses at its stations which are regularly maintained especially at strategic locations in and around metro premises, it said, adding that sprinkler systems are regularly checked and maintained so that it can be quickly activated in case of a fire.
