Moulivakkam demolition: Day after Belief' went down, Hopes pinned on court

Chennai: The wait of three neighbours at the Moulivakkam tower tragedy site seems to be eternal. Compensation announced by Chief Justice of Madras high court in March 2015, after the collapse of the tower at Moulivakkam damaged Abdul Khader’s house and two neighboring houses, has not reached the families, they claim. The rainy evening of June 28, 2014, will always be etched in the Abdul Khader’s memory. His neighbors Kumar and Mary, and himself saw their savings crushed into rubble when the building collapsed on their houses that night. “The tower and our houses had the same compound wall. Three of our houses were damaged beyond repair,” he said.

“We filed a complaint against the builder but no action was taken. After petitioning the Chief Minister’s Cell, when the families did not receive a response, we moved the high court,” he added. On March 17 last year, Chief Justice Sajay Kishan Kaul directed the Chief Secretary to validate the order and pay the compensation within three months, he told Deccan Chronicle.

But now, over a year later, he is pinning his hopes on a contempt of court petition filed by him after he was denied compensation, much against the orders of the court. All the families have moved from Rajaraja Nagar Street and live in rented accommodations.

“What surprised me the most is that the State Disaster Relief Fund can’t be used to compensate us as it wasn’t a calamity,” he lamented. “I don’t want three or four times the money. Only my house should be reconstructed as I had put all my money in it so that I could move here in future,” he added. “The state can’t take up responsibility for compensating them. It should be on the builder. I will look into how these families’ damages can be compensated for,” said Dharmendra Pratap Yadav, the Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Govt of Tamil
Nadu said.