Citizen Connect: Works sans safety poses a threat to commuters at Pallavaram rail station

CHENNAI: The ongoing development projects in all the suburban railway stations especially in the Beach and Tambaram route were welcomed by the passengers and other stakeholders, but the careless approach of the authorities has also caused miseries.

In Pallavaram railway station, as a part of several projects, the old drinking water unit was demolished to replace a new one. However, the debris was not cleared by the railway staff for the last couple of weeks. Adding to the woes, there is a pit, which poses danger to not only the elderly persons but also commuters, who are coming from Beach station to Pallavaram and want to rush home after their regular work.

“Due to poor light at this point of time (after 6 pm), I was almost about to slip into the pit ingnorant od the existing danger,” commuter M Kalpana, who works in a private company near Beach station, and hailing from Pallavaram said.

Though there was no official information about any other similar incidents that could have happened, a railway official from the Pallavaram station said that the debris would be cleared shortly.

S Prakash, an IT engineer, who alighted at Pallavaram station, also said that passengers, who want to cross the platform to the other end (GST roadside) when a train comes from Tambaram to Beach route, could face the problem while rushing to catch the train, they might not notice the open pit and get into trouble.

Another passenger P Anand Kumar, who also shunts from Pallavaram to Beach in the suburban train regularly, said that the welfare projects in the suburban railway stations were moving in a slow phase.

“I can quote one example. the old roof, which was replaced by the new one, was not removed for a long time. After several requests, the debris was cleared only last week,” he added.