Tamil Nadu floods: Apartment building verandah collapses

 

The veranda wall of an apartment situated on the ground floor of the 30-year-old Palaniswamy apartments on Luz Church Road, suddenly caved in  shocking the residents and neighbours, forcing them to rush out of their houses. 

 

According to S. Janaki, a neighbour,  one of the residents shouted for help on Tuesday night after he got on his bike and suddenly felt the ground give off near his rear wheel. “There was a small hole in the ground and we were shocked to find that beneath the ground it was completely hollow, the mud seemed to have sunk to a low level because of rains,” said Janaki. After deciding to get it fixed the next day, the residents all retired to their houses when they were woken up by a loud sound at 3 am in the morning again.

 

“We came out to find that the wall had collapsed and to avoid panic we were asked to leave each building,” added Janaki. Engineers from Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority visited the spot and ensured the apartment residents that there was no major structural damage and only certain weak spots in the ground had to be fortified.