The recent incident of cable theft affecting operations on the Delhi Metro’s crowded Blue line for an entire day on Monday brings to fore the issue of security breach on the sophisticated public transport system. Though the Delhi Metro suspects an internal nexus behind the theft, the incident is a clear case of sabotage as a 700m signalling cable went missing on the line disturbing the train schedules. Although normalcy on the line was restored by Tuesday morning, it is yet to be investigated as to how the crucial cable went missing delaying lakhs of passengers.
“The theft must have taken place between 4 am and 4.30 am. The disruption due to missing cable was realised at 4.50 am, before operations on the line commenced for the day. The theft took place at the crucial point from where the line goes above ground-level between Mandi House and Indraprastha Metro Stations, in the midst of the city,” said Sharat Sharma, Director Operations, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
The fact, that the theft took place breaching the fencing around the cables, is worrying, he admitted. “The miscreants were able to find a way to steal the crucial cable that connects the track circuit to the junction box through the fencing too. Stringent patrolling will help preventing such extraneous factors that can affect train operations majorly,” added Sharma.
Meanwhile, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) said that the Metro installations do not come under its purview and it is only responsible for securing the station premises.
Being a theft case, the matter is being investigated by the Delhi Metro Rail Police, who were clueless about the miscreants till Tuesday.
“The DMRC should have forwarded the complaint on Monday itself, but it did so on Tuesday evening. The police will now visit the spot to find out how the theft must have been committed or whether it was a vase of theft at all,” said Sanjay Bhatia, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime and Railways).