Danger lurks at MRTS stations in Chennai

Chennai: Running late for work one day, Nandini S climbed the stairs at the Thiruvanmiyur MRTS station to reach the first floor when she saw a man wearing a cap and his mouth covered with handkerchief.

Reaching the second set of stairs, he flashed at her. Being new to the city, and appalled to her very core, she started descending the stairs to go back to the ground floor.

“There was no one but the two of us on the entire flight of stairs. As I started walking back, some passengers started climbing up. After that the man disappeared. Only then I understood why he was wearing a cap and had covered his mouth with a handkerchief,” she said.

“It was around 11.30 in the morning. If this is the case in the daytime, what should I be expecting in the nights,” added a perturbed Nandini. Though there are RPF personnel at all MRTS stations from Velachery to Beach, RPF personnel themselves say given the sprawling size of the stations, a single RPF constable is not enough. “Currently, there is one RPF person at all stations except Park Town, Mylapore, Tharamani, Indira Nagar and Velachery, which have three RPF personnel including tow armed personnel,” said a senior RPF official.

Shortage of security is one thing, and a lack of maintenance another. The lifts and escalators at all the MRTS are in a non-functional state. Friday’s incident in which a teenager fell into the opening of a lift mistaking it to be a toilet is a tale at almost all MRTS stations. “How long this barricade has been here is beyond recall,” said a regular commuter from Chepauk station pointing at the escalator ‘under repair.’

Officials, however, maintained that work on toilets is underway and manning agencies have been reinstated and that other issues would be dealt with over time.

Merge MRTS with CMRL: Commuters

Lack of maintenance and inadequate facilities at MRTS stations has led to commuters wanting its merger with CMRL (Chennai Metro Rail Limited).

“Most stations have no proper facilities and unkempt premises. At Velachery, the parking area does not have a covering. Why should we pay for such services? We have been asking for providing spaces for commercial purposes as the huge stations have lots of space, thus can bring in revenue, also improve security and can be well-maintained but nothing has been done yet,” said V Rama Rao of Traffic and Transportation Forum.