Chennai Metro Rail has come up with extensive plans for dealing with emergencies like fire in the tunnel and stations in the underground stretch from Thirumangalam to Nehru Park set to open on Sunday.
On Friday, the officials demonstrated in Thirumangalam Metro Rail station, a scene of how they would put out a fire at a tunnel. When smoke was artificially created in the tunnel of the station, huge fans with a power of 1,400 rpm (revolution per minute) from Anna Nagar Tower station sucked in the smoke, thus taking it away from Thirumangalam and saving commuters.
“There are four such fans of varying powers in each tunnel and each station. For instance, in this case when there is smoke in the Thirumangalam tunnel, the fans from Thirumangalm station push the smoke towards Anna Nagar Tower and the fans in Anna Nagar Tower suck the smoke towards it. Apart from that, we have hydrants for every 60 metres in the tunnel,” an official said.
To dampen the sound of the powerful fans, there are attenuators installed in stations. “These will ensure the sound is not transmitted inside the tunnel or the people living close to our buildings,” an official said.
Apart from this, to keep the stations cool at a temperature of 29 degree Celsius, there are specialised air conditioning systems. “There are vent shafts that will take away the hot air inside the station; apart from this, there are machanised systems to cool the air entering the station from outside,” an official said. Also, there are two emergency exits for each station, he added.
