Chennai: Falling tiles and breaking of glass panels at Chennai Metro station is now a cause of concern for the authorities. Chennai Airport suffers from the same problem where instances of glass breaking or tiles falling have been registered. Last week a metro commuter was injured when a tile fell on her head while she was on her way to buy tickets.
The commuter was rushed to the hospital by Metro officials for treatment. Thankfully, the commuter did not sustain serious injuries.
Vijaya, a 28-year-old resident of Bharathi Nagar was on her way to board a train from Shenoy Nagar Metro Station. As she entered the concourse level – the location where tickets are bought, a tile from the roof fell on her head. She was injured as the tile came crashing down and was immediately rushed to the hospital.
Staff stationed at the metro station rushed her to the hospital where she was treated and discharged.
This is not the first time a tile broke off from the roof in a Metro Rail station. A few weeks ago, a passenger had a narrow escape when a tile fell close to him as he was walking inside the Egmore station, a source said.
Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) officials while confronted said that the construction is done under strict supervision. They agree that this was indeed an unfortunate incident and that they will ensure such incidents are not repeated.
Even while the CMRL official gives assurance, such incidents have become common. Earlier glass panels broke at the Nehru Park and Pachaiyappa’s College stations. Two months back, glass panels broke at the Pachaiyappa’s College station. At Nehru Park Station two glass panels broke.
CMRL official informed that the glass panels are made of toughened glasses. Even if they crack, they will not break. These special panels are designed to hold glass particles together.
An expert at IIT-Madras said that the fact that such issues were cropping up in a relatively new structure showed that the construction was shoddy.
