TIRUCHY: Stormwater pooled in the subway connecting platforms at Tiruchy railway junction on Saturday, forcing many passengers to avoid using it. This subway has been facing the situation from 2020 onwards with sources blaming infrastructural renovation work at the station taken up in 2019. The Southern Railway spent roughly over Rs 20 crore for the infrastructural upgrade here, but every monsoon the subway gets flooded, exposing poor drainage, they said.
Although the authorities often conduct temporary measures to drain out the water, passengers stressed the need for a permanent solution. "I have been boarding trains from this station for the past 20 years. This station's subway faced this kind of situation only after the infrastructural renovation during 2019 to 2022. It left us a beautiful station with poor storm water management.
What is the point in having a beautiful granite-laid subway pooled up with storm water? None can use it during the monsoon. I had several times noticed water rushing out from the gaps of stairs in the subway. I don't know how many crores the railway has to spend to stop this pooling of water in this underpass," said B Anandanarayan, a resident and state government official working in Thanjavur.
Some passengers demanded an inquiry against those who conducted the infrastructural renovation works at the station. "I am a regular railway passenger, and I request the administration to start an inquiry into the works executed at this station. Second, the railway should also come up with a permanent solution.
Last year, we faced the same issue, and authorities failed to come up with a solution to avoid such a situation," said Syed Ibrahim, a senior citizen and a passenger. Meanwhile, a senior railway official said, "We used two high-power motors to drain out the water. The railway team will take measures for a permanent solution."