CHENNAI: The elevators at Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board’s (TNUHDB) high-rise tenements are giving the residents a tough time, as, on Monday night, around eight persons, along with three children, one of whom just six-months old, were trapped in a lift for almost an hour at the tenements in Moolakothalam. The incident took place around 8 pm in the 11-storey H-block, where only one of the two lifts has been operational since the tenement was occupied by residents.
Similarly, in the 13-storey TT Block in Vyasarpadi, only three of the six lifts are operational, leaving its nearly 2,000 residents struggling everyday. TNIE has reported twice on the recurring lift issues at the TT Block, following which, the lifts have been temporarily repaired. However, they frequently fall back into disrepair within a week or two, residents said. Perumbakkam residents also report continuous disruptions of the lift.
Despite calling officials for assistance, no one turned up, said T Nagaraj (32), a resident who helped coordinate the rescue at Moolakothalam. After nearly 50 minutes, those trapped were rescued by the residents who used a rod to break open the door.
The TNUHDB officials came only after 10pm, said another resident. There was no power disruption when the incident happened, and the elevator even sank a few centimetres below the ground floor level.
There are 1,044 tenement units in TNUHDB Moolakothalam, but in almost every block, only one lift is operational, even though each block has two lifts. In addition, there is no lift operator after 7pm.
G Sukumar (42), a resident of TT block in Vyasarpadi, said lift number 1 has been non-functional for nearly seven months. Until last week, only two lifts were operational here, and currently, only three lifts are working.
A TNUHDB official blamed the residents for the recurring issues with the lifts, stating residents themselves were damaging them. The official went on to say that residents should ‘have the awareness’ to not use the lift when the operators are not there. The official said soon the maintenance of lifts at Moolakothalam will be brought under an annual maintenance contract.
When asked why the elevator sank below the ground floor, the official said it was because of the ‘excess weight’ of those inside, as the lift could only accommodate around 800 kg.
However it was unclear how the weight could have exceeded 800 kg when there were only eight adults in the lift.
