Sunlight passing through yellow asbestos sheets installed at CST causes irritation, health problems, complain passengers and GRP personnel
Sunlight passing through yellow asbestos sheets installed at CST causes irritation, health problems, complain passengers and GRP personnel
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A NEW yellow asbestos sheet installed to cover the concourse at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) has, literally, become a headache for passengers and GRP personnel.
Passengers, thousands of whom cross the concourse every day, and GRP officials, who have to spend hours at the helpdesk there, say sunlight reflecting off the yellow sheet has become a major irritant and is even causing health problems.u00a0
The railway police complain of the yellow asbestos as it is annoying and headache-inducing. The police officials have to sit at the helpdesk for hours at a stretch
Poornima Shah, who works in Fort and takes this exit because of its proximity to the bus depot, said, "I dread having to spend even a few seconds walking through the concourse because of the irritating yellow light.
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The problem may seem trivial but you have to experience it to understand how annoying and headache-inducing it is. I pity the railway police officials who have to sit at the helpdesk for hours at a stretch."
Raj Mehta, who was waiting for a friend near the bookstall at one end of the concourse, was shielding his eyes with a newspaper. "I have been standing here for barely 10 minutes and I can already feel a headache setting in. The reflected light is very irritating."
GRP personnel, however, say they have no choice but to sit in the area under the sheet. "When we move from the desk and go to another place, there is darkness before our eyes for a few seconds. We have been facing this problem since the time the sheet was installed but nobody is bothered.
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Our eyes feel a continuous strain and one of my colleagues even gets repeated headaches because of the sheet," said an official from the helpdesk.
"We have been touched by passengers approaching us and expressing sympathy at our plight. What is surprising, however, is that our seniors don't seem to notice despite repeated complaints.
We get headaches and are constantly annoyed but I guess we will have to continue to bear the trauma until something is done," said another official.
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The idea of putting up a transparent sheet was floated by Central Railway's General Manager Kul Bhushan to allow natural light into the concourse.
The contractor, however, installed yellow asbestos sheets rather than white ones of the right opacity.
The Other Side
When MiD DAY pointed out the problem to Senior Inspector A M Jadhav of the GRP, he said, "We will write a letter to the railways in which we will explain our problem and request them to replace or remove the sheet."
A K Singh, PRO, Central Railway, said, "We have not received any complaint regarding this problem yet. We put up the sheet for getting natural light into the concourse for the benefit of passengers. We will surely look into the problem if we get any complaints."
Doc's take
Ophthalmologist Dr Ambers Dark said, "Sunlight reflected off yellow asbestos sheets u00a0can cause irritation and discomfort to people exposed u00a0to it for a long time. Moving from the brightly-lit area to a darker one strains the pupil, which may trigger a u00a0headache."
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