CHENNAI: In a second mishap within a few weeks, a 45-year-old man sustained leg injuries when a balcony in his house on the third floor of a TNUHDB housing tenement in Foreshore Estate, Srinivasapuram, collapsed on Sunday night. It may be recalled that a 22-year-old man named Syed Golam died in a sunshade collapse in the same area a few weeks ago.
According to sources, Mohana Sundaram A has been a resident of Block 148 of the complex for eight years. On Sunday night, he returned home after visiting his 12-year-old daughter who had been hospitalised.
As he was standing on the balcony, the structure collapsed throwing him to the ground. Neighbours rushed him to Royapettah Government Hospital, where he was treated for injuries in the right leg and bruises on hands and back.
Following the collapse, families residing in the building were instructed to vacate immediately. Seven to eight families temporarily moved to their relatives’ homes.
A walk through the streets of Srinivasapuram revealed the deteriorating condition of the buildings with cracked walls, exposed iron rods and debris scattered along the streets. Residents alleged that parts of the roofs or walls keep falling apart almost every day.
Following the recent death of Syed Golam, enumeration process for house allotment was revived. So far, 1,292 families and 1,023 encroachers have been enumerated, with biometric enumeration expected to end in the next two days.
Residents of the building, most of whom are daily wage earners, said staying in rented houses until the reconstruction work is complete will be difficult as rent may vary from Rs 8,000 to Rs 15,000 a month.
They requested the government to provide them temporary accommodation, similar to the tin-shed houses given during Nochi Nagar reconstruction over a decade ago. In yet another incident on Sunday, plastering from the ceiling of a house at the Mambalam TNUHDB tenement collapsed, in which the resident had a miraculous escape.
Speaking to TNIE, a senior TNUHDB official said discussions are on with residents of Srinivasapuram, and even as the enumeration is being processed, people’s reluctance to vacate is delaying the reconstruction. Currently, the local MLA is working to arrange for temporary accommodation, he added.
“A technical committee constituted in 2019 with members from Anna University and IIT-M had recommended the reconstruction of over 20,000 houses in the city. Last year, reconstruction work was initiated under 21 different schemes and this year, under 17 schemes. In 2025, we plan to reconstruct around 7,000 to 8,000 houses. Despite assurances from the government, residents are unwilling to vacate and this is delaying the reconstruction work in many places,” the official said. The Mylapore MLA was unavailable for comment.