CHENNAI: A leaky spot in the roof at the Central railway station left passengers in a tight spot on Sunday evening as a sudden downpour lashed the city.The video of the ‘waterfall’ near the seating area in the station went viral in the social media with several tagging Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and other senior railway officials, who are otherwise active in the social media.
Social media users were quick to point out that the station, scheduled to be re-developed to ‘world class’ standards as per the vision of the Railway Ministry, was unable to prevent even rainwater from entering the premises.Others wondered at the level of preparedness of the station during rainy season and sought immediate attention.
A station official, who was on duty at the time of the incident, said, “There were efforts by some staff to mop up the stagnated water. But before that could happen, many passengers were already shooting the incident on their mobile.” He admitted that the overhead shelter was cleaned at irregular intervals.
When contacted, a senior divisional railway official admitted that there is a need to replace the roofing of the heritage structure built in 1873, with only a few areas covered in concrete. He said they were taking action to prevent such incidents in future.“On Monday, we plugged the particular gap but we will now survey the overhead shelter covering the entire station as well as platforms. All gaps will be plugged in the next few days,” the official told Express.