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Chennai: The Tamil Nadu The housing department on Thursday ordered an inquiry into the quality of housing board flats at Athipattu in Ambattur after TOI reported how cracks have developed in vacant flats in less than four years of construction.
This instruction was given by Principal Secretary Housing and Urban Development Apoorva. tnhb Engineers and officials inspected the complex which has 2,300 apartments in 11 towers. Officials said they identified about 30 quality defects in the buildings, including cracks, peeling plaster, tile damage, wall damage, cement peeling and water seepage. He said they are yet to ascertain whether these defects will lead to structural weakness of the buildings.
TNHB chairman Poochi S Murugan said the officials would submit a detailed report. “Based on the report, we will take a call. We are also checking the liability period of the contractor. If the damages are repairable, we will ask the contractor to repair them. If there are signs of structural problems, we will contact IIT Will consult institutions like Madras and a report by an independent expert team is sought,” he said. Murugan said the safety of the people is the top priority.
“The chief minister’s office has taken note of the issue. We have also sent him an action taken report regarding COVID-19 items kept in the buildings,” he said. Meanwhile, the activists demanded action against the TNHB officials behind the construction and blacklisting the contractor.
Jayaram Venkatesan, founder of anti-corruption NGO Arapore Iyakkam, said many such shoddy works remain unfinished. In 2021, slum board tenements in North Chennai’s KP Park were found to have substandard plastering, but no FIR was registered against the contractor.
“The government department did not even file a complaint with the DVAC when there was prima facie evidence of quality being compromised. They should pull up the officials concerned and blacklist the contractor,” Venkatesan said.
Of the 2,300 houses in Athipattu, only 550 have been sold, while 1,400 houses were used as COVID-19 care centres. TNHB officials said that these houses will not be put up for sale before the quality issues are resolved.
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