The Chennai Silks building that caught fire in the T Nagar area of the capital city of Tamil Nadu in the early hours of Wednesday, May 31, started collapsing after 24 hours of the continued blaze. The partially-collapsed building will be completely razed now, local sources have said on Thursday, June 1.
At least 12 men who were working in the canteen on the seventh floor of the building had been rescued using a skylift. Though no casualties were reported, cloth material worth lakhs of rupees sustained damage in the blaze. One fireman has been injured in the fire department's efforts to douse the blaze.
Permits flouted?
Questions had been raised from Wednesday itself as to how the fire started and why firefighters were facing so much trouble in putting out the fire. Questions had also been raised on the building's fire safety measures.
Local media are now reporting that the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) had given the building owners a permit to build only four floors, but nearly double that were built.
Meanwhile, the Usman Road area, where the building is located, has already been blocked for the public since Wednesday.
Demolition on Thursday
Firefighters have had a tough time combating the blaze, which managed to melt the iron bars within the main pillars of the building, causing the entire front part of it to start collapsing by 3 am on Thursday. By the time the sun came up, there was a yawning gap at the front of the building.
Because the building was damaged beyond repair, Tamil Nadu minister RB Udayakumar told reporters that the entire building would need to be demolished by Thursday afternoon. "We have constituted an expert committee to inspect the spot and suggest measures to demolish the remaining structure in a secure fashion. The demolishing will be undertaken by the government. We will make all arrangement for smooth running of businesses in T Nagar," he said.
