Dilapidated housing board flats in Boomianpet pose threat to residents

No official has even paid a visit to the flats to see the damage, they say

A resident pointing to cracks in a flat at the Puducherry Housing Board in Boomianpet in Puducherry. | Photo Credit: S.S. Kumar

Residents of flats constructed by the Puducherry Housing Board in Boomianpet are living in perpetual fear as the structures are in a dilapidated condition.

The Puducherry Housing Board had constructed about 562 flats in Boomianpet in Jawahar Nagar four decades ago and allotted them based on lot system to government employees and those working in government-owned undertakings.

The structures are now in an advanced stage of disrepair due to lack of maintenance with chunks of concrete falling off the ceiling of many houses. Iron rods protrude from the ceiling and staircase, and plaster on the walls has also started peeling off, posing danger to the residents.

The Puducherry Housing Board was started with great expectations to ease the housing problem in the Union Territory but in course of time, the board has lost its ground and is virtually struggling to maintain the infrastructure. Some of the buildings are in a very dilapidated condition and it is important that the government should come out with an action plan to strengthen its coffers and ensure that beneficiaries of the scheme are not left in the lurch, say residents.

According to K. Parthasarathy, a resident, “The majority of the flats are in a precarious condition. Iron rods are jutting from the walls and balconies and chunks of the ceiling and plaster falling off have become routine. Even the staircases in several flats are on the verge of collapse.

“A few of the flats have been renovated by the residents while others have vacated them due to their poor condition. It is the board’s responsibility to provide its maintenance and upkeep. Despite, repeated representations, no official has even paid a visit to the flat to see the damage.”

It is not just the condition of the flats that worried the occupants.

“During monsoon, rainwater mixed with sewage enters the flats and the streets in the housing board colony are filled with layers of subsoil. The duty of the board was not over when housing societies were formed after completing the apartments. They should ensure that the basic facilities to beneficiaries were provided without any problem,” said A. Arasakumar, another resident.

When contacted, an official said the residents were to be blamed for the choked sewage. A number of residents had deviated from the original plan and gone in for additional construction by encroaching the space where sewage pipelines had been laid. This had affected the flow of sewage, he said.