In all 39 Metro stations, sanitary napkin vending machines will be installed and free napkins will be available for women commuters.
Minister for Industries M.C. Sampath, who inaugurated the initiative, said this was planned to make napkins readily available for women passengers who are in a rush. At the launch of the initiative, jointly by the Geo India Foundation and Rotary International, Priya Jemima, of the foundation, said each machine would hold up to 100 pads and back-up stock would be available in the station.
Hygienic conditions
Pradeep Yadav, managing director, Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), said they were taking a host of steps to maintain cleanliness in stations and trains during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The construction of Metro’s phase II project, running to 118.9 km, would begin in June and some contracts were getting finalised now, officials said. “The preparation for tunnelling work and viaduct construction should start in about four-five months. After we award the contract, the company has to bring in equipment and manpower, which will take some time,” an official said.
Since it is one of the biggest projects to be carried out and contracts have to be closely monitored, CMRL has set up a Project Management Information System, which will help in tracking every contract.
“We are going to build a 118.9 km network, and this will be done as different sections. Since it will be a massive task to track all this, we have the system now. It will show every key date and target that a contractor has been given. If they have missed it, we will know easily. This is not just for civil contracts but for system contracts as well,” the official added.
