Toilets in suburban railway stations to be ready in a month

Chennai: The long wait for toilets in suburban railway stations will end in a month’s time with the Madras high court directing Southern Railway officials to construct the facility on platforms on an emergency basis.

The high court passed the order on February 11 on a petition by  Satta Panchayat Iyakkam. The commercial department is working on a war-footing in tandem with all  station masters in the 17 stations between Chennai Beach and Tambaram to ensure the toilets are constructed and put to use.

“We have completed the work in 10 stations between Beach-Tambaram and will be completing the work in other stations in the coming weeks. Railways can build  toilets. Manning the facility is the biggest challenge as most private contractors cannot abide by the contract citing monetary issues,” said B.Sathya Narayana Hari, senior divisional commercial manager.

In the 2015-16-railway budget, Rs 30 crore had been allocated to construct and maintain toilets at all  suburban and MRTS stations in Chennai division.