Chennai Corporation and CMDA officials have decided to assess the rectification work promised to be carried out by the builder at the 17-storey Jains Westminster apartment complex in Chennai before deciding on shifting the nearly 1,500 residents of the complex to safety.
The development comes after the residents complained about ceiling cracks and concrete plasters peeling off the roof at the complex that houses nearly 500 families.
CMDA (Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority) sources said the developer, Jain Housing and Constructions, has agreed to rectify the defects.
"If it is dangerous for residents to stay on the campus during rectification work, they will be shifted out," an official source said.
The apartment complex in Saligramam has three residential blocks and one block was sealed by the CMDA after it was illegally converted for commercial use.
CMDA had locked and sealed the block on August 2016. It was de-sealed six months later after the developer promised to retain the building as per the completion certificate. But since the builder did not keep his promise, it was sealed again two months ago, sources said.
M P Kumar, secretary, Jains Westminster Owners' Welfare Association, said most of the residents started occupying the flats in 2015 and after a few years, the building started developing cracks and leaks.
The association approached the Madras High Court through former advocate general T R Rajagopalan four years ago with the demand that the developer undertake a structural stability review using the services of IIT-Madras. But that did not happen.
“Now with media spotlight on the issue, the builder landed at the complex on Saturday and held talks with association members and promised to take up the rectification work,” Kumar said.
The development comes even as residents, some of them pensioners and senior citizens, are pooling funds to undertake repair works. "If the government wants us to vacate the premises due to safety concerns, the developer has to financially compensate us for the period of repair work. Many of the residents are still paying EMIs and it would be difficult to afford a home on rent,” Kumar said.
The cost of a flat in 2010 was around Rs 1 crore, Kumar said. The builder could not be reached for comments.