TIRUCHY: The Southern Railway in a survey assessing the condition of old and abandoned buildings on its properties a few weeks ago identified a total of 706 ‘dilapidated’ staff quarters in Ponmalai and 267 ‘badly damaged’ units in Kallukuzhi, Tiruchy Fort and at the goods yard in Tiruchy.
All the 973 staff residential units would be razed, likely paving the way for commercial projects, said official sources. According to reliable sources, the railway property of 200-odd acres of land in Ponmalai alone has staff quarters near the Golden Rock workshop which were built in 1926 for the families of hundreds of workers from across the country and Britain.
Only about 50 families reside in some of the old staff quarters now. Following an inspection, a railway team has marked about 500 quarters in ‘South D’ block and 206 quarters in ‘North D’ block in Ponmalai for demolition. The move also comes following complaints of anti-social activities at the abandoned quarters in the night, sources said.
TNIE had in its January 20, 2020 edition (‘Even bravehearts break into sweat in these dwellings’) reported on the dilapidated buildings in Ponmalai and how some ground-level employees had few options but to stay in them. Meanwhile, locals in Ponmalai appreciated the move and batted for utilisation of the cleared land for projects other than reconstruction of staff quarters.
"It is the need of the hour to demolish these old buildings. They should clear them, ridden with tall weeds, and utilise the parcels of land for some other purpose. As some of them are located in prime locations in the city, the railway can also generate income by constructing shopping complexes or commercial buildings there," said K Madhavan, a local. Sources said new staff quarters may come in place of the British-era ones only after assessing the requirement and added that other “beneficial” projects are instead likely to come up.