CHENNAI: A possible disaster may have been averted as a contractor of the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB), who is building 702 residential units at Andimaniyam Thottam, has torn down the constructed portions in all the four blocks after the board flagged quality issues.
The TNUHDB found that the pre-fabricated concrete technology used, being executed at a cost of Rs 118 crore, was not as per quality standards. The board’s goal is to make TN a slum-free state by providing affordable housing to urban poor.
While it is unclear how much money has been spent so far, sources said at least 20%-25% of the work had been completed before the anomalies were spotted.
A TNUHDB official said, “If the construction is allowed to go, it could have had grave consequences for the residents.” In December 2021, a portion of the tenement in Tiruvottiyur collapsed due to age.
Of the four blocks, the quality of blocks C&D were initially found to be poor, prompting scrutiny of the other two blocks. TNUHDB officials later asked the contractor to change the construction methodology in blocks A&B.
Contractor penalised Rs 2K per day for delay
The contractor has now been told to revert to conventional methods instead of the prefabrication concrete technology where certain components of walls and beams are constructed off-site in a factory and assembled on the site.
“They (the contractor) seem to have issues with the pre-fab technology but we spotted the deficiencies early on during work at the ground-floor level itself. We didn’t find any issues with their other projects during inspection,” said a senior official of the board.
Andimaniyam thottam was originally an informal settlement near the Mandaveli bus stand with 3,000 residents, where the TNUHDB initiated redevelopment work in 2022 under PMAY (Housing for All). After the tenders were floated and work was awarded to Ramalingam Constructions in 2023, the project suffered several setbacks.
In April this year, the board penalised the contractor Rs 2,000 per day for delay, stating in an official release that only 15% of the work seems to have been completed against the required 45%, resulting in the delay.
When TNIE visited the AM thottam construction site in October, no work was in progress.
When asked if the losses incurred due to the issues would be recovered from the contractor, a senior official of the board said that it would be. Officials also said that a decision was yet to be taken on blacklisting the contractor.
The project is proposed with a total built up area of 29,289 sqm with two of the four blocks proposed to have stilt plus 13 floors.
