Popular T Nagar showrooms in Chennai sealed

CHENNAI: The city's commercial hub at T Nagar woke up to a rude shock on Monday with the Chennai Corporation and Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) sealing over 30 popular buildings/commercial establishments for violating building norms. According to CMDA officials, notices to around 60 commercial establishments - mostly textile, jewellery and footwear showrooms - for unauthorised construction have been issued and around 30 buildings have been sealed.

The authorities have also pasted notices outside the sealed buildings that the premises are sealed till further orders. Most of the mega shops on the Ranganathan Street and many in the North Usman Road have been sealed.

Some of the popular shops that have been sealed include the Saravana Stores, Chennai Silks, Jeyachandras Textiles, Khadims, Ratna Stores and others.

Earlier in the morning, a tense situation prevailed as some owners and their employees tried to break the seal but were warned by the officials to desist. According to officials, notices have been issued to 33 more buildings as to why their premises built without proper sanction should not be demolished.

Civic officials had earlier conducted a survey and said that around 60 multi-storeyed buildings have violated building laws.

In 2006, the Madras High Court had appointed a monitoring committee to look into the issue of violations of building norms. The committee had recommended civic authorities take action against the violators.

The shop/building owners were not available for comments on the action taken by the civic officials.

However, residents of the area welcomed the the action and hoped there will be some permanent solution to their problems. "Most of the buildings have permission for two floors but the owners have built five or six floors. The crowd of people and the vehicles these huge stores attract makes life hell for us," said S.Srinivasan, a resident of T.Nagar.

"These buildings are safety hazard. In case of any fire accidents, the casualties would be very high," said a passerby.