The Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the authorities to respond to a writ petition by a resident of Moulivakkam here who sought compensation for his house which was totally damaged when the 11-storeyed building collapsed on it seven months ago.
Besides the damage to his house, he has been forced to stay in rented premises. Adding to his agony, he also became jobless. The petitioner, S.M Daniel, had obtained a loan of Rs.32.02 lakh for constructing the house from a bank. Now, he is unable to pay the monthly instalments to the bank.
Mr. Daniel submitted that he purchased a building at Rajarajan Nagar, Moulivakkam, for Rs.40 lakh by obtaining a bank loan and was paying the EMI regularly. On June 28 last year, the 11-storeyed building fell on his house damaging it completely. He was forced to vacate the building. When he tried to reconstruct a portion of his building, the government put up a notice board stating that it was a ‘prohibited area'. Subsequently he was not permitted to enter the premises.
Because of this, he was staying in a house at St.Thomas Mount for Rs.15,000 rent.
The petitioner alleged that the government, CMDA and the Kancheepuram Collector failed to check the construction of the multi-storeyed building. He was suffering due to the negligence of the authorities.
Since there was no response from the government to his representation seeking compensation, he moved the court. Justice T.S.Sivagnanam has ordered notice on the petition.
