Hit by Hudhud, rly. station made to wait on the loop
Repairs have not been taken up more than 70 days after cyclone struck the city
The biggest railway junction over East Coast Railway – Visakhapatnam Railway Station – is yet to be back in shape even more than 70 days after Hudhud struck Visakhapatnam. The damaged platform roofs and the missing trains’ arrival and departure indication boards are yet to be replaced causing hardship and confusion among passengers.
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more... major portion of the roof on all the eight platforms is still missing exposing passengers to the sun and wintry chill during the nights. Though the two escalators, installed on PF 2/3 and PF 4/5 on Ugadi (March 31 this year), have not suffered any damage due to Hudud, there are complaints from passengers that they are not being operated most of the time.
Many of the passengers, especially visitors from other places, coming to catch different trains are a confused lot in the absence of platform indication boards.
The boards, blown away by the cyclone, are yet to be replaced at most of the places except for a few on the Foot Over Bridge.
“Waltair Division has suffered the maximum damage due to Hudhud and the funds sanctioned should be released directly to the Division instead of making the payment to the ECoR headquarters in Bhubaneswar,” demands Ch. Gandhi, general secretary, East Coast Railway Shramik Union.
“We have taken the issue to the notice of the Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and MP K. Haribabu besides taking it up with the Chairman of Railway Board and the General Manager of East Coast Railway. No money has been released so far towards Hudhud relief and the contractors were not coming forward as the previous bills are still pending,” he told The Hindu .
“There is short supply of roofing material and the supplier is unable to meet the demand in view of the colossal damage caused by the cyclone,” Divisional Railway Manager Anil Kumar told The Hindu in the past.
Whatever may be the reason, one can only hope that it will not turn out to be an endless wait for the passengers.
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