A portion of an old, unused building collapsed on Tuesday (May 2) morning, on Perambur Barracks Road, Purasawalkam, a busy, congested locality in the city. No one was injured in the incident. This is the third old building to collapse in Chennai this year.
The building in Purasawalkam, believed to be about 100 years old, structured as a stilt-plus-first-floor, was in a dilapidated condition. Residents who were earlier living in had left the premises some time ago, police said. Though the owner had obtained permission to demolish it, the work had not yet been executed.
Police personnel from Vepery, Esplanade and Egmore rushed to the spot and quickly conducted a search in the debris, later declaring that there was nobody trapped inside, and there had been no injuries or deaths.
Senior officials of the Chennai Corporation, Fire and Rescue Services and the police all arrived at the site, and a prelimilinary investigation has begun.
In April, an old four-storey building that was under renovation collapsed in the busy and congested Armenian Street near Parry’s Corner, injuring two persons. In January, a young woman was crushed to death when the portion of a wall of an old building fell on her when it was being demolished on Anna Salai in Thousand Lights.
