Chennai: Slum board tenement with 24 houses collapses, no casualty

A Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUDB) tenement with 24 houses collapsed at Tiruvottiyur in Chennai on Monday. No casualty has been reported, said the police.

The incident happened around 10.50 am as 24 houses in the ‘D’ block of the slum board tenement collapsed after developing cracks earlier.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister MK Stalin announced a solatium of Rs 1 lakh to each of the 24 families. He also said an alternative housing facility would be provided to them soon and asked Slum Clearance Board Minister TM Anbarasan to expedite the rescue work.

Minister TM Anbarasan, Tiruvottiyur MLA KP Shankar and Chennai police commissioner Shankar Jiwal visited the spot and conducted an enquiry.

The police barricaded the surroundings as people from nearby areas started to gather in large numbers.

An official from the TNUDB told indianexpress.com that the building is 25 years old. He said the construction work began in 1991 and the allotment was made in 1996.

#Chennai: Slum Board tenements in Thiruvottiyur collapses. As per the initial reports, 24 houses in D block got completely destroyed. No casualties reported so far in the accident. Rescue work in progress. Police force has been deployed. @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/DmjLCiQXDr

— Janardhan Koushik (@koushiktweets) December 27, 2021

“Around 08:30 am, people in the buildings started to feel some shaking. Since they had experienced this before also, they thought this was one of those occasions. But some of them came out, checked the building and saw big fresh cracks. They informed the other residents soon. So from 9 am, people started to leave their houses. The news soon spread to the media and around 10:50 am, the ‘D’ block of the building collapsed. Huge smoke began to rise over the debris,” he said.

The building has six blocks with 375 houses. Authorities told residents in the adjacent blocks also to vacate.

Residents who lose their houses were in complete shock and told the local media that they are not sure what to do after losing all their belongings.

Authorities said they are taking steps to arrange for food and temporary shelter for the affected residents.