Giant fan costing Rs 3.5 lakh installed at CST station
Picture: Rajendra B. Aklekar
Central Railway recently installed a giant fan measuring 16 feet in diameter at Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station on a trial run basis in a bid to improve ventilation and airflow.
Manufactured by USA-based company MacroAir, the fan will cost CR an estimated Rs 3.5 lakh if the railway authority goes ahead with the purchase later.
CR officials have justified the exorbitant price of the fan by claiming that the amount can be recovered in just three years, as it will help them cut down on total electric consumption.
Currently, the pivotal station is ventilated by 25 conventional ceiling fans, averaging a daily electric consumption of over 100 units combined.
According to MacroAir’s proposal, the station will need only 4 of these giant bladed fans to ventilate the entire area which will bring down the daily electric consumption to 33 units.
In addition, the company claims that the fans are light in weight, noise-free and maintenance-free.
While speaking to Mumbai Mirror about the installation of the giant fans, Narendra Patil, Central Railways chief public relation officer, said, “These are noiseless fans that cover large areas. We will take a call after our engineers finish monitoring this fan.”
Central Railway is also looking forward to upgrading the lighting of the station. At present, 800 conventional lights have been replaced with LED lights at CST. The remaining 400 lights are expected to be replaced with LEDs soon.
