THOOTHUKUDI: The district administration cancelled public visits to the Mahakavi Bharathiyar memorial house in Ettayapuram for renovation. The Bharathiyar house, which is protected by the Tamil Nadu Information and Publicity department, had collapsed on Tuesday.
The terrace of the two-storey building built using the age old 'Kattakuthu' method collapsed, which further damaged the roof of the ground floor. The house was the birthplace of poet Mahakavi Bharathiyar, who was born on December 11, 1882, and the structure is over 150-years-old. Ettayapuram had witnessed a heavy downpour, a few days back, and water had stagnated on the rooftop, sources said.
The engineers of the traditional buildings wing of the Public Works Department (PWD) inspected the house on Wednesday. Workers were deployed to safeguard articles, artefacts and photos of Bharathiyar. Following a thorough check up, an estimation will be prepared and sent to the government, an official said.
Collector K Elambahavath said, "The house will be renovated without any alteration to its traditional archaic richness. The state government had already announced funds for renovating all memorial structures in the recent budget. Until the building is revamped, it will remain closed for the public," he said.
Meanwhile, the BJP north district president Saravana Krishnan resorted to protest in front of the damaged memorial house, condemning the state government over its failure to maintain the house. Police arrested 27 cadres and released them later.