No power: Suresh Prabhu can't open railway food plaza at Tambaram railway station

Chennai: The inauguration of the new food plaza at Tambaram railway station’s second entrance slated for Saturday by minister of railways Suresh Prabhu has been put off because it is yet to get electricity connection.

The food plaza that has been under construction for the last one year is at three venues at Tambaram station - one at the concourse, another on the GST side and the third on the Eastern Tambaram side - and is expected to benefit around 1.7 lakh commuters arriving at the terminal on a daily basis.

For the past 10 months, Tambaram railway station doesn’t have any food chain or functional outlet, causing inconvenience to commuters. An official from Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) said that the food plaza is not yet ready, as the state electricity board has not provided a connection.
“It could take longer as we have to wait for the connection. We are expecting the food plaza will be up and running by March 31,” he added.

When an official from state Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (Tangedco) was contacted, he said that the only last week the application requesting power connection was submitted to them.

“It will take at least two to three more weeks. The file is with the higher officials as it is regarding power connection at a public space. Since the request came in late, it wouldn’t have been possible to provide it within a week,” he said.

Senior railway officials, however, said that IRCTC officials notified them that the plaza is not ready only a few days back. Passengers are expecting the food plaza to be functional soon as it would ease their problems. “Currently, there is no place to grab a bite at Tambaram station. The food plaza will be a boon to rail users,” said passenger C.L. Ramakrishnan.