EB sub-station at Perungudi in utter disrepair

Greatest source of alarm is the condition of the roof on the first floor, under which people queue up to make their electricity bill payments

First-time visitors to the electricity board’s sub-station at Perungudi Industrial Estate will be in for a rude shock.

The building on the premises, where official duties are carried out, is in a state of utter disrepair. Deep and lengthy fissures snake across a few pillars of the structure.

However, the greatest source of alarm is the condition of the roof on the first floor, under which people queue up to make their electricity bill payments.

The plaster has chipped off in many places, exposing the rusting steel. Staff members are accustomed to showers of loose concrete and some have become indifferent to the danger. Fresh patches of cement-plastering on the roof suggest efforts at fixing chipped portions.

Recently, a small portion of the roof, right above a payment counter, ‘opened up’. And, it is alleged that concrete material rained down on waiting consumers.

“During one instance of concrete fall, a fan was severely damaged. One of its blades was bent,” said K. Kannan, a domestic consumer, pointing to the fan. “Imagine what could have happened if a person standing underneath had been hit.”

Consumers have requested that either extensive structural repairs be carried out or the building rebuilt to avert any major accident.

Domestic and industrial consumers of electricity in the Perungudi region walk into the sub station office to make bill payments. As a result, it has scores of visitors on any given day.