Chennai
However, their joy turned out to be short-lived, as the quality of new flats was not up to the mark in terms of construction as cracks were found on pillars and the roof.
The fishermen families said that they were afraid of taking possession the flats and all of them wanted officials to carry out repair works soon. Sources said around 2,300 people were living in the Nochi Kuppam fishing hamlet, one of the oldest settlements in the city.
The TNSCB undertook the construction of new flats in 2015 after demolishing the existing tenements at the same site. To facilitate the work, the residents were asked to move to temporary shelters nearby.
K Bharathi, a member of Mayilai-Nochi Kuppam Meenava Grama Sabhai, said, “Out of the 536 units in the apartment block, around 200 families have settled, while the remaining families were gradually moving into the houses allotted to them.”
But, the cracks on a majority of the pillars, roof and floors have led to fears among the occupants and officials have to take up repairs on a war footing to ensure safety of in the new flats, he added.
Bharathi also denied the charge that residents themselves were damaging and causing cracks on the pillars and peeling off the paint. A senior engineer of the TNSCB, on condition of anonymity, said, “such issues have come to our knowledge and we will soon take up repair of the damaged portions. We will also monitor the flats, as there are reports that some persons are intentionally causing damage to the structures in a bid to spoil the TNSCB’s image.”
With regard to charges on allotment of flats, the engineer said that many families opted for ground floors, but they could not get them as the board had allotted them to families of differently-abled and elderly persons, he clarified.
When DTNext contacted K Raju, Chief Engineer of TNSCB, he said that he would instruct the executive engineers concerned to look into the issue. “We will find out the exact cause of the cracks and undertake repairs at the earliest,” the CE assured.
PROJECT JOURNEY
Project announced and work commenced in 2015
Work completed in April 2017
Total cost Rs 48.06 crore
Total number of units in the block 536
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