Smart City can wait, safety first please

The haphazard commercial establishments sandwiched between residential complexes, improper infrastructure, unchecked violations, absence of fire safety protocol and unplanned development has made T Nagar, which has been chosen for the Area Development Program of Smart City Projects, fail in one important criteria - that of providing a safe neighbourhood for the residents. 

V Rangan, a 63-year-old retired professional, recalled T Nagar as a neighbourhood, which was calm yet had easy commercial access, thanks to number of small traders. “It was a residential area. The real problem started when the small traders were replaced by huge retail outlets of textile and jewellery businesses,” he reminisced, tracing the transition from an idyllic neighbourhood to a busy  commercial hub. 

South Usman Road became a coveted address. “Everyone wants to have an outlet on this road. One ground sells for Rs 35 crore,” added Rangan. 

Historian Venkatesh R said that T Nagar was a huge lake until the 1920s, when the Justice Party leaders won the Madras Elections and the Long Tank, which formed the western frontier of the city, was drained out in 1923, for town planning activities. “The laying of suburban railway line from Egmore to Kancheepuram in 1911 resulted in a station at Mambalam. The plots were sold to the crème de la crème of the society. Film stars and producers lived here. Jewellery outlets and expensive silk  sari shops sprang up. T Nagar stated picking up and the area developed into a commercial hub in the 1970s,” he said. 

Once the shops prospered, the buildings grew bigger and along with it, the violations too. “The residents are living in a danger zone,” said V S Jayaraman, founder member of the T Nagar Residents Welfare Association. “Our secretary, Kannan B filed a public interest litigation in 2014, after which an audit of these buildings by the TN Fire and Rescue Services showed that many such establishments lacked fire safety  measures,” he said. 

The government appointed the Justice Rajeshwaran committee to suggest measures to tackle the building violations. But, these suggestions were not favourable for implementation here.  

“People living here have been forgotten in the melee of growing economic viability of the area,” a resident said.  “Even residential complexes violate the norms,” said 22-year-old Alamelu R of T Nagar and added, “This makes living here highly unsafe.” 

“Imagine if this accident would have happened at 3 pm in the afternoon. How many lives would have been lost?” Jayaraman questioned. 

The building violations have resulted in similar accidents in the past. The 2008 fire in yet another retail outlet, is an example. However, action remains to be taken. These are not the only buildings violating the CMDA norms, said Tara Murali, architect and member of the CMDA monitoring committee, appointed by the Madras High Court. “The government makes these rules, but it also protects  the violators,” she said.

Total floor area: 9,400 square meter

Total plot area: 4,000 square meter

2 units of water expelling Co2 extinguishers or 4 units of ABC 5-kg extinguishers.

1-outlet of wet riser is mandatory for every 1,000 sq m at all floors.

National Building Code, 2005, mandates Automatic sprinkler system to be present in all floors.

Underground water tank’s capacity should be  1.5 lakh litres.

Just 2 units of ABC 5-kg  extinguishers 

Wet riser systems were absent 

Automatic sprinkler system was present in I floor

Only 50,000 litres storage tank present in the underground