Expert committees to evaluate TNSCB tenements

Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board, formerly known as the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board, has constituted five expert teams to evaluate over 17,000 tenements built by it that are over 25 years old.

The decision to evaluate the tenements constructed under 62 schemes comes a day after 24 families had a miraculous escape as a tenement they were living in collapsed. A major tragedy was averted as the families were evacuated from their houses minutes before the collapse after the residents noticed cracks on the four-storied building in Tiruvottiyur in north Chennai.

In a meeting on Tuesday, the TNUHDB decided that five expert teams with an expert from the prestigious Anna University in each will be evaluating the vulnerability of the tenements. All 17, 734 tenements are over 25 years old, and they need to be inspected immediately, officials said.

“The Technical Evaluation Committee has been asked to evaluate the tenements and submit reports on or before December 31, 2021,” a senior official said. He said an evaluation exercise conducted earlier had identified 20,453 tenements that need to be reconstructed.

Chief Minister M K Stalin had on Monday announced Rs 1 lakh each as aid to the families that lost their dwelling units and that the government will provide alternate accommodation to the 24 families very soon.

T M Anbarasan, Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), who was deputed by Stalin to oversee the rehabilitation of those affected, said the building was constructed in 1993 and it sustained damage due to prolonged usage.

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