Fear, anxiety and helplessness have been gripping the residents of a gated community in Chennai. The residents of a multi-storeyed apartment complex in Saligramam, who claim to have invested their hard-earned money in the flat, are living in constant fear of being inside a structure that is ready to collapse due to shoddy construction.
According to the residents who purchased flats in the Jains Westminster project located in the western part of the city, within a year of occupying the flats in 2016 they started to notice structural flaws.
The 17-storey apartment has about three residential blocks – A, B, and C with the first two being triple-bedroom and double-bedroom apartments and C being single-bedroom apartments.
According to the ground report, the basement floor of the complex gives the impression of an under-construction site with cement bags, concrete chunks and iron rods lying all over giving an unpleasant dusty atmosphere.
A resident claimed that a few people had a close shave when a portion of concrete from the ceiling near an elevator in Block B collapsed on the ground floor just a few days ago. The vehicles at the parking lot are not safe, according to residents, as a portion of the concrete fell on a windshield of a car recently.
The vehicles at the parking lot are not safe, according to residents, as a portion of the concrete fell on a windshield of a car recently. (Express Photo)
Srinivas Moorthy, the executive committee member of the Jains Westminster Owners Welfare Association, blamed the building owner for making a mockery in the name of repairing.
“After 2016, we started moving here. In less than two years, we observed cracks in corridors, pillars. Some of the residents who are engineers in reputed firms found that the concrete used was contaminated with chloride that causes erosion in steel. The building owner agreed to do the rectification work, but he was making a mockery in the name of repairing,” Moorthy said, adding that the builder has roped in unskilled workers for the work who are not aware of the solution needed to control the damage.
He said the association has decided to carry out the work by itself by pooling in money from the members. “With our in-house experts, we identified some 780 critical elements and we engaged a firm for carrying out the works,” he added.
It may be noted that some of the residents had made advance bookings in 2010.
According to the association members, after the news about the shoddy construction appeared in the media, the builder held a meeting with the residents and promised to carry out the repair and provide alternative accommodation till the repair work is over.
“In the meeting with the Jains (the builder), we told them that an expert team from IIT should assess the structural stability of the building and see if it is repairable before starting the work,” Moorthy added.
As per the details, the association has done the repair work for over Rs 4 crore till now. A resident noted that at the time of their purchase, they were promised amenities including a swimming pool (which was sealed by Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) as it was not approved in the earlier plan), a clubhouse, a conference hall, gym, etc but none of them is available for use now.
M P Kumar, association secretary, said he wakes up at 3 am daily to start inspecting the condition of the structures across the complex and address the grievances of other residents. Kumar stays on the 7th floor of B Block and said his flat was one of the damaged flats in the complex.
“Once when my wife was cooking in the kitchen, a piece of concrete on the ceiling fell down. I am planning for temporary accommodation, once after these issues get sorted out, I will start doing the patchwork for the ceiling. Not even one house in this complex is safe. My neighbour has so far spent Rs 5 lakh for the repair works alone. Cracks started to develop on the tiles of my house. Since it is a new model, we need to replace the entire floor with new tiles,” he said.
Kumar said as per the MoU entered with Jains two days ago, the builder has to refund whatever amount the association has spent for the repair works, solve legal issues, make available all the amenities promised at the time of the construction and after obtaining the stability certificate from IIT Madras or other government-accredited expert panel the builder has to complete the repair work within one year adhering to all legal procedures.
‘Families are worried; my son is calling me every hour’
Residents claimed a large number of occupants of the apartment complex are senior citizens whose family members live abroad. Their children are in panic mode, they said.
An elderly resident, B Vishalakshi, who is also the treasurer of the association, said her son who stays abroad has been checking on her every hour after the news came out in the media.
Broken tiles, rusty grills in the corridors and an unusable staircase have worsened the situation. (Express Photo)
“Cracks are visible on the walls, beams, and pillars. There is a crack on the balcony beam in my house, I am afraid that it may fall any moment. Initially, there were small cracks on the wall, I called the workers and attempted to rectify it, but within some period, the cracks started to appear on the ceiling as well. There is widespread fear among residents,” she said.
The treasurer added that her son had asked her to leave the house which she bought for around Rs 1 crore and relocate to some other safer place.
“Safety is the utmost concern now. My son has been calling me every hour asking about the situation. I told him not to worry; we are trying to sort out the issues. We hope this will be sorted, God should help us,” she added.
According to the association, there are over 600 odd houses and among them, 143 are unoccupied due to legal issues. The CMDA had sealed block C after the building owner converted it into a commercial complex.
Sangeetha, a homemaker, who stays on the 15th floor said she bought the house by selling her properties. Now she says she is on the verge of depression having to face one issue after another regarding the apartment on a daily basis.
“My house has not suffered any damage, but I am not sure how long will it be the same. I sold two properties to buy this flat at Rs 80 lakh on loan in 2012. I need to pay that EMI apart from the cost I have paid for the repair work. I don’t have the appreciation value as well; not even one year we lived peacefully here. Every day in one house or the other, there have been cases of cracks developing on the wall and concrete falling off from the ceiling,” said Sangeetha who had convinced her husband to buy the flat.
“As a result, now every day we are fighting with each other over the decision. Our friends and families are also calling us and asking why we chose this flat over rest in the city. We are constantly targeted for residing here after the news about the poor construction came out. It’s quite depressing to live in constant fear thinking about what will happen next or whether we will wake up alive the next morning,” she said, demanding a permanent solution.
Greater Chennai Corporation holds talks with residents
The authorities from Greater Chennai Corporation inspected the complex on Monday. The civic body authorities and the local body representatives held a meeting to address the concerns of the residents.
Regional Deputy Commissioner of the Corporation Sheikh Abdul Rahman told indianexpress.com that with the safety of residents being their top priority, the civic body will take further action depending on the severity of the damage that is to be ascertained in the structural assessment report by the officials of CMDA, corporation and other departments concerned.
“On visual inspection, we have come to know that the damage might be extensive. Some might have exhibited very soon. The main outcome of the inspection which other residents have also raised is the presence of the chloride content that has led to the erosion of rods. Some of the residents have been rectifying it for the past two years. What we believe we need now is an entire reassessment of each and every unit. Only then we might be in a better position to comment,” Rahman asserted.
The officer noted if they end up in a position where something is structurally defective then the solution would be to go for a redevelopment.
Further decisions will be based on expert report on structural stability: Virugambakkam MLA
E Prabhakar Raja of the DMK, who is the legislator of the Virugambakkam constituency where the complex is situated, said Monday that further action on whether the entire building needs to be razed down or whether any particular segments alone need to be rectified will be based on the suggestions of experts on structural stability. “Each action will be based on the safety of residents,” he added.
Fund for repairing buildings. (Express Photo)
He said that as soon as the issue surfaced, the representatives of the association met the Chennai Corporation Commissioner to put forth their demand. He also wrote to the department concerned and Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority Minister P K Sekar Babu in this regard.
“The civic body authorities have personally taken stock of the situation. We are taking all measures possible from our end to ensure the demands of the residents are fulfilled,” he said.
The DMK MLA added that there will be proper response from the owner as the government has interfered on the issue and the officials are carrying out the workers as per the directions of Chief Minister M K Stalin.
The Indian Express team that visited the complex spotted cracks almost everywhere in the building - literally from pillar to post. Besides, broken tiles, rusty grills in the corridors and an unusable staircase have worsened the situation. (Express photos) 
The vehicles at the parking lot are not safe, according to residents, as a portion of the concrete fell on a windshield of a car recently. (Express Photo)
Broken tiles, rusty grills in the corridors and an unusable staircase have worsened the situation. (Express Photo)
Fund for repairing buildings. (Express Photo)
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