Four passengers narrowly missed being hit by a brick and panels that fell from the ceiling onto the exit gates at National College metro station. Though the incident took place on Monday around 6 p.m., it came to light on Wednesday.
Three women and a male passenger were near the exit gate when the brick and ceiling panels fell.
A woman who had just walked out of the automatic gate after dropping the token, jumped in fright as the brick whizzed past her and hit the exit gate, which was badly damaged on impact.
The damaged exit gate.
Shankar A.S., Executive Director, Operations and Maintenance, BMRCL said, “A small piece of the brick fell on the gate. No one was hurt in the incident. We have completed the repair work.”
This is not the first time that the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has drawn flak for poor maintenance of its stations or ignoring passenger safety.
“Namma metro is receiving increased patronage, and BMRCL must prioritise the safety of passengers,” said a commuter.
The incident happened at National College metro station on the Green Line, on Monday.
In January, the BMRCL had drawn criticism after a one-and-a-half-year-old girl died after slipping from her grandfather’s hands while he was accessing an escalator at Srirampura station. It was only after the incident that BMRCL installed safety nets next to escalators at several stations.
BMRCL Employees’ Union vice-president Suryanarayana Murthy said, “The BMRCL has not learnt lessons from previous incidents. It had spent thousands of crores to implement the project, but failed to do regular safety audits. The BMRCL management must make officers accountable for the lapse and initiate action.”
