Chennai Metro Rail has decided not to have false ceiling in stations of the phase I extension project, from Washermanpet to Wimco Nagar, which will become operational early next year.

According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), both elevated and concourse levels will not have false ceilings, primarily to reduce construction cost and time. There have been a few instances of false ceilings falling on passengers at stations.

Rooms where station controllers monitor the station and others where equipment will be stored will also not have false ceiling.

A major change

This is a clear departure from the phase I project where the concourse level of stations have false ceiling. Only the St. Thomas Mount station has concrete roofing, officials said.

“Instead of a false ceiling, the roof will be covered with concrete and it will be painted black, with good lighting in place. We will have only have concrete flooring in all stations,” an official said.

CMRL officials said the objective was to save money and reduce construction time.

The placement of a false ceiling takes nearly two months, an official said.

“For each station, we will have to spend anywhere between ₹60-70 lakh for false ceiling and flooring. So we had a discussion recently and decided to go ahead without it,” he noted.

Expensive maintenance

Only after the false ceiling is placed can the signage be installed at stations. If there is a delay in placing the false ceiling, the last-minute work too will suffer delay. Maintenance of false ceilings too is expensive, another official said.

“We may have to do maintenance work every 2-3 years and spend ₹1 crore on it. It also turns out to be quite an elaborate process,” he added.