The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Bus shelter roof collapses, two injured

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Tuesday, Jun 21, 2011
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Bus shelter roof collapses, two injured

Ajai Sreevatsan

All newly installed shelters will be evaluated for safety

— Photo: R. Ravindran

The fall: The roof of the bus shelter on Kamarajar Salai, which collapsed on Monday.

CHENNAI: The roof of a bus shelter near the Kannagi Statue on Kamarajar Salai collapsed here on Monday injuring two passengers.

Following the incident, Corporation Commissioner D. Karthikeyan said that a detailed review has been ordered and all the 40 newly installed bus shelters, which are made of stainless steel, would be evaluated for safety.

“In the shelter which collapsed, the welding seems to have been weak. We are checking all similar installations. Aspects relating to faulty design would be taken into consideration before building similar facilities in future,” he said.

The Chennai Corporation is in the process of inviting bids for setting up 642 newer generation bus shelters across the city. The private bidders will set up the bus shelters in exchange for 180 sq. ft. of advertisement space in each of these facilities. Appu Balan, a student of Presidency College, who regularly uses the bus shelter that collapsed, said “The installation itself was not done properly. The roof was hanging precariously for a few days. These facilities are not maintained at all. The joints seem to have developed cracks even though the shelter is less than a year old.”

The Corporation has 741 bus shelters under its control, including 377 that were handed over by the Metropolitan Transport Corporation. A senior MTC official said that in case any further safety hazards were detected, they would be raised during coordination meetings with the Corporation.

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