NEW DELHI - Construction major Gammon India is likely to get off the hook as the company is “very important” to Delhi Metro for the completion of its projects in time, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) indicated Tuesday as it blacklisted two other firms for the July 12 mishap that killed six people and injured 15 others.

“Gammon India is very important for us. They are involved in five major projects in Phase II. If you take them away, the projects will get delayed by six to eight months,” DMRC chief E. Sreedharan said.

“We need Gammon India. Unfortunately, we don’t have many big construction companies,” he told reporters here, adding that blacklisting Gammon “at this point of time means floating tenders once again”.

“But we will send them a show cause notice asking why they should not be blacklisted for two years. The notice will be vetted through legal officers. They will have 21 days to answer. Depending upon the answer, we will take action on them.”

Asked if he believes that “Gammon India is too important for the completion of the metro work before the Commonwealth Games”, Sreedharan told IANS: “We will fine them. But I won’t comment on the fine amount right now. The mishap has led to a Rs.6 crore immediate loss. Gammon will bear that. The fine imposed will be extra.”

The Metro chief said Gammon is involved in five projects - including the Badarpur line and the Noida line. The company is also constructing many Metro stations in the ongoing Phase II work.

He, however, said that DMRC will ask Gammon to better its quality and safety assurance. “We are going to ensure quality assurance and safety assurance one level more than what it is today.”

Earlier in the day, Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy informed parliament that a probe panel, headed by IIT-Delhi professor A.K. Nagpal, found “serious deficiency in the design of the cantilever arm and the concrete (used in the construction) not having the adequate strength”. The panel was probing the July 12 accident at a Metro construction site in Zamrudpur in south Delhi.

The design consultant, Arch Consultancy Services, has been blacklisted for five years, while the structural consultant, Tandon Consultants, which did not give “correct advice” to DMRC is being debarred for two years, he said.