Switch off lights during day at Fort station, demand citizens

CHENNAI: Even though the State and Union government have instructed the public to save electricity, the lights along the platform of Chennai Fort suburban railway station were switched on in the broad daylight.

Regular commuters of the suburban trains and vendors at the station allege that usually the lights will be on before 5 pm. However, railway officials deny that the light is not switched on often during the day, and it happens by mistake of the concerned officials.

“I work at a hotel at the secretariat campus. I hail from Tambaram Sanatorium and I take the suburban train regularly from Fort station. Several times, I saw that the lights were switched on during day times especially in early evenings,” KP Kumar (name changed) said.

He claimed that he tried to lodge a complaint with the railway officials at the station, but they ignored and refused to take up the issue. “These unwanted electricity bills will be imposed on taxpayers. If the railway employees claim that it might be one or two day, the waste is waste, which cannot be accepted,” he added.

A fruit vendor at the Fort station, who also travels in the train to sell his items, also alleged that he had seen the lights burning in the day time at few suburban stations.

“Moreover, this issue has to be taken by some senior officials, who were in various government offices and regularly travelling in the suburban trains”, he said adding that “I think no one had noticed because of their busy schedule”.