Chennai: Snail-paced demolition of textile shop continues to hit traffic

Chennai: Traffic and normalcy in T Nagar will continue to be affected at least for two more weeks thanks to the slow demolition drive carried out by the corporation authorities. Even after two weeks, the busy Usman Road is not open to the public adding to the heavy traffic in T Nagar and its neighbourhood.

On Saturday a major portion of the building was brought down, which completes the process by 60 per cent. A pillar on the seventh floor of the building was knocked down by the jaw cutter machine, which resulted in one-half of the building collapsing.

S. Durai, one of the contractors hired by the city corporation, said that the works are being carried out under the watchful eyes of PWD and corporation authorities after the unfortunate accident at the site, a week ago in which a 21-year-old
worker, Sharath was killed.

After the demolition is complete, civic authorities would be entrusted with the task of removing the construction debris from the site, which is expected to take at least a fortnight's time, he added.

The inability to carry out the demolition on time has proven that the authorities are encountering such a situation for the first time and lacking the expertise to handle the situation. The residents of the area have also complained of the traffic that has been diverted into the residential block as the demolition of the building is yet to be completed.

R. Mohan, a resident of T Nagar, said that he had to take his mother-in-law for an emergency and the ambulance found it hard to come into the residential block. He added that commuting to the office has also become hard due to the traffic.

V. Rangan, a retired customs officer, who lives behind the ill-fated building complained that the debris and dust were all around the place after the collapse of the building.