Due to heavy rain over the past few days, the pedestrian bridge at the Pattaravakkam Railway Station has been damaged, putting hundreds of commuters to inconvenience. The small bridge is the only access route from the railway station to the Pattaravakkam Industrial Estate. According to commuters, the concrete structure, which has partially collapsed, looks shaky and could crumble entirely anytime.
S. Arumugam, a resident of Arakkonam, who works in one of the industrial units, complained the foot bridge that was constructed several years ago was already in a poor condition and had begun to crumble due to the heavy rain over the past fortnight. He said the bridge was the only way to get to the industrial estate, which has hundreds of factories.
The industrial workers, many of who are daily wage earners, have to detrain at the Korattur railway station and walk a long way to the industrial units if the bridge collapses completely.
T. Sadagopan, a consumer activist, said thousands of people commute by trains from as far as Arakkonam, Tiruvallur and Tiruttani. The Southern Railway opened a railway station mainly for the sake of these industrial workers. But if no steps are taken to reconstruct the bridge, industrial workers would suffer, he added. M. Ramesh, a resident of Bharathi Street in Ambattur, said while there was a pedestrian bridge linking the railway station to the residential areas, there was no facility connecting it to the industrial estate.
The owner of an industrial unit in the Pattaravakkam Industrial Estate said the bridge located below the canal was constructed by the Southern Railway to provide access to commuters. So, the Southern Railway had to take steps to reconstruct the footbridge.
Portions of the bridge have collapsed and residents and workers are worried that it may give way entirely
