Chennai rain: Parking lot of apartment sinks 4 feet, none injured

CHENNAI: The parking lot at an apartment building on Nelson Manickam Road in Aminjikarai has sunk up to four feet on Tuesday after torrential rain lashed the city.

Residents complain that the ongoing construction of a real estate firm adjacent to the apartment is one of the prior reasons for the concrete wall to sink. Residents of the respective block will be temporarily shifted until the restoration work is completed.

“The nearby construction is one of the main reasons for the incident. Before it began, we had urged the builders to test the soil to check if the building would sustain in the locality. During the northeast monsoon last year, the compound wall in the apartment collapsed and it took a long time to rectify that. Now, the parking space sank suddenly on Tuesday morning, and there was a crack till the main entrance,” said a resident of B block at Nelson Chambers apartment.

When residents raised complaints to the builders, they received a lackadaisical response that the damages would be fixed.

“Due to the rain alert, residents did not park their vehicles; if there were cars and two-wheelers there, those would have sunk,” said another resident.

There are 200 families residing at the apartment, and the recent incident has become a huge safety concern.

As a precautionary measure, residents have urged the concerned department to stop the construction work of the building to prevent further damage, especially considering the beginning of the rainy season. “The situation might worsen if the rainwater stagnates in the coming days,” lamented a resident.

However, builders of the ongoing construction next door told DT Next that they had renovated the parking area and constructed a compound wall six months ago.

“Since the apartment is 30 years old, the concrete floor sank during the recent rain. The restoration work has been delayed due to the rain and is expected to be completed by Thursday,” they added.