The death toll in the recent multi-storeyed building collapse at Moulivakkam near suburban Porur, rose to 47 on Wednesday morning with the recovery of 17 more bodies on the fifth day of the tragedy.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notice to the chief secretary on the matter.
Rescue workers continued to look for possible survivors under the debris. The National Disaster Response Force fears that over 10 people may be still be trapped underneath. Since there is unbearable stench emanating from the debris indicating the presence of decomposing bodies and the risk of infection which could spread rapidly, all rescue workers have been vaccinated against possible diseases by the Health Department officials.
Official sources said non-stop rescue operations by over 700 workers led to finding 27 survivors who are now undergoing treatment for injuries sustained during the incident.
Meanwhile, investigators, quoting preliminary reports, said the owners of Prime Sristi Housing Pvt Ltd, the real estate firm which built two 11-storeyed apartment complexes in the same plot of land, had started construction work in 2012 while securing Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority approval only in 2013.
They also found several irregularities in the construction work besides flouting of norms. For example, an approach road of 60-foot width was necessary for any building which had more than seven storeys. In this case, it was less than 30 foot. Several apartments had been sold at approximately over Rs 60 lakh for flat sizes of 1,030 sq feet each, PWD sources said.
The future looks bleak for the investors who had already paid most of the money upfront.
The PWD has decided to pull the second apartment complex due to instability of the structure. The demolition will be undertaken after the relief and rescue operations conclude, sources added.
Taking suo motu cognisance of a media report, the NHRC issued a notice to the chief secretary, calling for a report within two weeks into the building collapse incident in Chennai on June 28, 2014 which has claimed 47 lives while 27 people have been rescued.
According to the media report, Chief Minister Jayalalitha had stated that the building collapsed due to constructional defects and the builder had violated various norms.
The Commission has observed that the contents of media report, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of human rights of the persons who died and of those who were injured in the incident.