When the city was pummelled by rains during the last fortnight, Ramya, a young homemaker, was gripped by a crippling, but entirely reasonable fear. The first-floor portion of the two-storey building in Mylapore, where she lived with her family, seemed to be leaking everywhere.
Seeping in from the terrace, water had entered all the walls. She unplugged all the electrical connections and avoided using the induction stove, mixie and all other electrical equipment. She kept all the electrical appliances wrapped in plastic sheets for a couple of days.
During this period, when houses were swamped by rising rainwater, many others across the city feared the possibility of electrocution. Some feared their decadesold buildings would give away. On Wednesday, a portion of the balcony at an apartment complex on Luz Road in Alwarpet collapsed, due to the impact of the heavy rains.
Investigating policemen quoted engineers as stating that the root cause of the problem lay in the building’s sump. Residents rushed out of the complex after they heard the loud noise of the balcony collapsing. The building is over three decades old. There have been instances of people dying in different parts of the city due to collapse of walls and roofs during the monsoon.
Even during the southwest monsoon earlier this year, there were incidents of building crumbling. A portion of a studio wall collapsed in July in Vadapalani, killing two people.
A senior engineer with Tamil Nadu Generation Distribution Corporation said power supply leakages were rare in homes with safe, perfect wiring. Frequent tampering of the internal cables combined with water seepage might lead to power supply leakages, he said. On the issue of safety of buildings, builders allayed fears.
“There can be no threat of damage to a ‘framed structure’ with reinforced cement concrete pillars and columns, even if they are surrounded by water for a long time,” said N. Nandakumar, immediate past president, CREDAI, Tamil Nadu. There might be dampness and seepage, but this does not mean that buildings become weak due to rain or water stagnation, said S. Narasimhan, a builder.
(Additional reporting by Vivek Narayanan).
