CHENNAI: Days after the first crack emerged on Sheshadripuram First Main Road in Velachery, residents have now started noticing new cracks that have started developing in the premises of two apartments on the same street.
According to corporation officials, the cracks were due to the foundation work carried out for a 17-storeyed residential project taken up on the same road by a private developer. Work using heavy machinery was halted after the cracks first appeared but filling work continued. The portion of the cracked road has been barricaded from vehicular movement, the officials said. With the road yet to be fixed, residents of the street are forced to take the longer route to reach the Perungudi Railway Station.
D Balachander, a resident of one of the two flats questioned on what basis were approvals given as a 17-storeyed building was not a feasible project for this area considering the soil’s holding capacity. Vatsala* (60), another resident in the flat that has now developed cracks, said that she is worried about where she would go with her bedridden husband if the cracks worsened. Both flats are located adjacent to the construction site.
A maintenance staff at one of the apartments said that the damage was due to the reverberations caused as part of the pillar installation work. While the first apartment had cracks near the parking, in the second one, it was near the entry gate. Residents claim that the buildings showed signs of damage ever since the construction began in February.
Residents said that the first crack, which appeared on July 7, is yet to be filled by the city corporation. When TNIE visited the area on Tuesday, the cracks on the road looked wider and deeper from when they first appeared and a portion of the road had visibly sunken. Natarajan S, another resident in the locality, said the water sump in their apartment was displaced due to the movement of soil in June due to which, the pipes got disconnected and water supply was affected for almost a week.
Speaking to TNIE, Aftab Rasool, the Regional Deputy Commissioner for the South Region, confirmed that the construction on the building was halted and has not resumed yet.
The site was inspected with IIT experts and the report came on Monday morning, he said adding that the corporation is working out an estimate repair the damages on the road and in the apartments but claimed that the cracks seen at the entrance of nearby flats were not new and had been present even when the issue was first flagged.
(Inputs from Praveena SA)