CHENNAI: It’s the same old story of neglect for hundreds of residents at Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB) tenements at Pulianthope and Vyasarpadi.
During a visit to two of the tenements–K P Park in Pulianthope and TT Block in Vyasarpadi –TNIE found several lifts dysfunctional.
Spread across eight blocks with over 1,900 houses, the K P Park tenement has 28 lifts serving four 9-storey and four 11-storey buildings.
However, on Tuesday, at least 10 lifts were dysfunctional, forcing the elderly, persons with disabilities and families with children to wait for long hours to use the working lift or climb flights of stairs. Making matters worse was the wornout condition of the concrete staircases.
Last year, S Ganeshan (60) fell to his death in an elevator shaft at the K P Park tenement, and the memory of the incident continues to haunt the residents till today. Shanthi (name changed), a 30-year-old woman living in E Block, said, “We continue to live in constant fear as nothing has changed. Even the few working lifts make loud noises.”
In blocks like G, even though three out of four lifts were operational, TNIE found certain floors such as the 9th with lift buttons either broken or removed, making it impossible for the residents to stop the elevator. The lift operators also claimed that a few of the lifts do not have automatic rescue devices.
The situation is equally bad at the 13-storey TT Block in Vyasarpadi, where only three of the six lifts are operational, leaving nearly 2,000 residents to struggle every day.
In September 2024, TNIE reported that five out of the six lifts in this tenement were non-functional. Though the situation has slightly improved with two more lifts now being operational, half of them are still in disrepair.
TNIE noticed an auto-rickshaw driver with a disability in the legs struggling to climb the stairs. When asked, he said, “The lift hasn’t been working for a month. I have no choice other than climbing the stairs to visit my disabled friend on the first floor.”
Even at the Perumbakkam tenements, lifts in the G+7 buildings were dysfunctional.
Vanessa Peter, founder of IRCDUC, said, “The lifts in TNUHDB high-rise tenements are a constant cause for concern. The department should ensure that do’s and don’ts, along with emergency contacts, are clearly displayed in the lifts. It should also display insured certificate and the date on which the lift’s last maintenance was carried out.”
Social activist L M Jaiganesh said poor lighting and lack of cameras in these tenements have led to drug use by youngsters.
A TNUHDB official said five lifts are currently functioning in Vyasarpadi, and steps are being taken to restore the remaining. Another official acknowledged the absence of Automatic Rescue Devices in a few lifts and added that steps will be taken to install them.