MRTS station lacks basic amenities
Six water kiosks have been constructed but only two taps are operational for the past three months
By : vivek narayanan
Update: 2015-08-09 07:01 GMT
Chennai: Kasthuribai railway station, an MRTS station that connects passengers from southern Chennai to the rest of the city, is reeling under the absence of basic necessities such as toilets, water kiosks.
Also, leaky roofs lead to water stagnation in the platforms. None of the six toilets constructed, three each for men and women, is operational for the past five months.
Four of the toilets are locked and the rest two are in a shabby state that keeps off passengers.
“It is a torture waiting at the station for a long time as there is no toilet facility. The one that exists is extremely filthy. Earlier, at least one was usable, and now even that has become unusable as it is filled with filth and other plastic wastes,” said S.Muniappan, an employee working at a garment shop at Mandiaveli.
The issue has been raised for a quite some time, he said. Kasthuribai station spans a total area of 5,000 square meters and has a total footfall of over 4,000 passengers on a daily basis.
Six water kiosks have been constructed but only two taps are operational for the past three months. Two of them are not in place, and the remaining two are dry.
Adding to the woes is water leakage from roofs that has led to rain water stagnation in many parts of the station, especially platforms. In certain parts, officials have kept buckets to collect rainwater inside the station premises.
“The issue of water leaking pertains to mostly Indira Nagar and Kasthuribai stations where we will be assigning workers in the next two days and we will make sure that within the next one month we will complete all the works related to cementing the roof,” said a senior executive engineer when contacted.
He said the four water taps that was operating until last year was broken and was made unfit to use by miscreants. The work on roofs and the taps is being undertaken by Metro Transport Party (MTP), he said.