Title - Loco shed staff prone to deafness

At least 10 per cent of the railway employees working at the diesel loco shed in Tondiarpet suffer heart ailments and nearly 60 per cent of them have hearing problems.It is because employees work in an ambience where the noise level goes up to 160 decibels, which is thrice higher than the limit prescribed by doctors.Employees there attribute the noise to the presence of the “load tower”, which tests the hauling capacity of the engines of express trains perilously close their workshop.A senior mechanic there told Deccan Chronicle said the load towers ought to be located 600 meters away from the engine workshop, but in Tondiarpet, it is only five feet away.Even doctors at the railway hospital in Tiruvottiyur wonder why do they frequently report to them with hearing and heart ailments, another mechanic said.The human ear can withstand 60 to 70 decibels, while noise of intensities between 80 and 100 are extremely unhealthy. Dr K Balakumar, former director of the ENT department at the Government General Hospital, says: “Continuous exposure to sounds above 100 decibels is dangerous, and air horns, and horns used by trucks and buses produce sounds as high as 120 decibels.”“If noise above 100 decibels can be dangerous, think of our condition. We are exposed to 150 decibels regularly,” pointed out an electrical staffer.“The staff at the load tower have ear muffs, what about the majority of the rest near the workshop, which is only a few feet away?” he asked.

A sum of Rs 1 crore allocated to relocate the tower four years back was diverted for other purposes. And workers’ deafening appeal continues to fall on deaf ears of officials.

Engines of at least 19 express trains starting from Chennai Central are attended to by Tondiarpet loco shed workers.