Chennai: The sudden development of a 10 feet long fissure amidst the floor tiles in first storey of the Namakkal Kavimani Maligai, the 11-floor office complex inside the premises of the State Secretariat, the seat of power, triggered widespread panic that led to the officers, employees and visitors rushing out of the building fearing an earthquake on Thursday.
Frightened employees and officers started fleeing the complex after the crack was spotted at the Agriculture Department office floor, leading to the government staff vacating the place and then calling their colleagues in the upper levels of the building to inform them of an impending disaster.
The kerfuffle in the premises brought the police and officials of the PWD department that maintains the government buildings to the spot. After a thorough scrutiny of the fissure, the PWD engineers said that it was an ‘air crack’ and there was nothing to panic about it.
There was no earthquake as feared and the air crack was due to the ageing of the 50-year-old building. The tiles were laid about 14 years ago when the building, which was among the few skyscrapers housing government offices in the city at the time, was renovated.
Assuring that the building on the whole was strong and stable, the PWD and police, who also rushed to the spot on hearing about the employees fleeing their seats at around 11.20 am, dispelled the rumour that the people in the first floor felt a tremor before the crack developed.
PWD Minister E V Velu came down to assure the staff who were standing in knots outside the building after coming down abandoning their seats. Normalcy was restored in the premises after about an hour when the employees returned to their seats. The Minister also assured that the crack would be set right immediately.
The building houses most of the State government departments and the officers and secretaries sit there, while the main building, which is part of the 17th century Fort St George. has the offices of the Chief Minister, Ministers, the Chief Secretary and a few top level secretaries.
The Nammakkal Kavingar Malaigai also has several conference halls and the 10th floor has a major conference facility. It was envisaged by the DMK government, led by M Karunanidhi, to accommodate the various government departments inside the Fort St George premises, which was primarily occupied by the Defence Department.
In 2012, during the tenure of J Jayalalithaa, the building underwent a massive renovation and was then reopened in 2014.
