Kerala home deemed unsafe for stay due to unnatural sound

A house at Kozhikode district in Kerala that was in the news after an unnatural sound was being heard constantly from the floor over the last two months was found to be unsafe to stay.

It was the lifetime savings of Biju T M, a native of Vellimadukunnu on the outskirts of the city, that was found to be unsafe. But as the final scientific explanation was still pending, Biju was yet to get any assurance on assistance and compensation from the government.

The nearby residents are also quite concerned now as cracks were developed in another nearby house also. Biju, who ekes out a living by working in a shop, said that the house was his lifetime asset and he built it stage by stage using small savings, loans and even selling off some inherited properties.

The unnatural sound with slight vibration was noticed around two-three months back from the ground floor of the two-storey house. Later slight cracks also started to develop. The State Disaster Management Authority experts could not find the reason and hence a team from National Centre for Earth Science Studies (NCESS) carried out the inspection.

They concluded that there could be sallow medium to high resistivity zones beneath the affected site. The NCESS team could not reach a conclusion citing that the studies were conducted during the rainy season and suggested that more studies were required during the dry season.

An official of the Kozhikode collectorate said that only after receiving a conclusive report of the experts further steps for awarding any compensation to the house owner could be processed.

Biju, along with his wife and son, had already moved out of the house and now staying in rented premises. His ancestral house situated in the compound also developed cracks and hence his mother and brothers who were staying in the house had also moved out. Biju says that some aged people of the locality were also not ruling out the chances of ancient underground tunnels in the locality as there were some myths associated with the place.

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