Bride-to-be dies in balcony collapse

The girl, Maheswari, was talking on the mobile when the wall of the balcony of her tenement at Annai Sathya Nagar suddenly caved in. She fell off the balcony and was rushed to the Erode government hospital. But she succumbed to injuries without responding to treatment.

Daughter of labourer Kumaresan, Maheswari’s marriage was scheduled for next month, said her wailing relatives. Immediately, irate residents of Annai Sathya Nagar, which houses 648 run-down tenements in three storeys, blocked the Erode-Bhavani main road from 8 am to 12.30 pm.

Traffic on the busy stretch came to a halt as revenue and police officials failed to pacify the residents. Finally, the police arrested 50 residents and dispersed the other agitators.

The residents of the slum clearance board tenements at Annai Sathya Nagar demanded immediate compensation to Maheswari’s family and also to repair all the damaged houses. The Bhavani phase 1 tenements at Annai Sathya Nagar, with 225 sq feet floor space each, was built by the slum clearance board for slum dwellers in Erode.

Slum clearance board officials, who visited the damaged building, assured immediate steps to carry out repair works in all five housing complexes. Most of the nearly 2,000 tenements in Bhavani phase 1, Bhavani phase II, Perumpallam Odai, Narayana Valasu and Palanthoppu are in a dilapidated condition, the residents said.

Officials said a committee comprising civil engineers would inspect the tenements and submit a report. The three-inch balcony wall in the houses would be strengthened and made into four-and-a-half inches balcony, said the officials.

Also, Erode corporation, with funding from the state and Central governments, plans to build 1,400 tenements for patta land owners in Erode city, the officials added.