Kochi: Commuters entering the platform through the eastern entrance of the South Railway station must be cautious not to trip and fall down as a portion of the floor has got damaged and the tiles have come apart. Despite several complaints from commuters, nothing is being done to mend the floor because the Chennai headquarters has not yet sanctioned the repair work costing over Rs 6 lakh.
“The sanction is being delayed since the said area doesn’t belong to the Railways. We've written to the Chennai headquarters about the need to carry out the work urgently. Many passengers have complained of the ‘danger spot’,” a senior railway official said.
To make matters worse, the Railways and the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) are at loggerheads that resulted in the delayed nod from the latter. “The building that houses the ticket counters and entry points belong to GCDA. We've requested them to give nod to repair the same but the same was provided after much delay,” sources said.
The GCDA authorities have initially turned a blind eye to the demand after the Railways had earlier “shown indifference” to the former's proposal to develop a road before the Edapally railway station. Despite the GCDA agreeing to meet the project cost, the Railways didn't handover a 200-metre land.
Railways too want the road to be developed but not to link them as wanted by the GCDA. They want the road from Ponekkara side to be widened and set up a round-about so that the vehicles cannot reach the other side.
