The Chennai Corporation has taken over the building in Teynampet the concrete sunshade of which collapsed killing a woman and injuring two children.
A senior corporation official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the death, resulting from the collapse of the second-floor sunshade, was an unfortunate incident, and revealed that more than 20 such buildings in the area, including the one which had partially collapsed, were illegal constructions.
“Most of the people in the area are slum dwellers and had sites allotted to them under the Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) scheme. They were allowed to build houses only on the first floor, but a few of them have violated the guidelines and built multi-storeyed structures,” the official said.
He also revealed that the land on which the buildings are constructed belonged to the slum clearance board, and that notices were now being readied to be seant to all residents who had violated guidelines and illegally constructed multi-storeyed buildings.
“Our officials were preoccupied with clearing obstructions and encroachments. But after this incident, they have been instructed to make sure that such incidences do not recur,” he added.