Tamil Nadu government to replace 50-year-old structures: Handlooms minster

NAGAPATTINAM: In the wake of eight people losing their lives when the roof of an employees’ rest room collapsed at the Porayar bus depot in Nagapattinam district, handlooms minister O.S. Manian on Sunday said the government would take efforts to replace government structures which are more than 50 years old, after an audit of such structures.

Visiting the mishap site and meeting the injured, Manian along with revenue minister R.B. Uthayakumar spoke about the need to prevent such incidents – which is the second such mishap in the past two months.

“We will conduct an audit to check the buildings which are 50 years old and if the audit says the buildings are not strong, we will replace them. The government would replace buildings that are weak with new ones. We will ensure such incidents don’t recur in the future,” he told reporters.

The incident took place on Friday morning when the roof reportedly crashed on them while they were fast asleep on the first floor, which also caved in, burying them under the debris. The incident came close on the heels of a roof at a bus stand at Somanur in Coimbatore district collapsing, killing five persons and injuring many others.