CHENNAI: Following the collapse of a portion of the ceiling, residents of Jains Westminster Owners Association in Vadapalani have lodged a police complaint seeking action against Jain Housing and Construction firm for poor construction of their residential complex.

The Jain Westminister apartment complex has a total of four blocks and a total of 464 occupied flat out of 620 flats. Most of the residents began occupying the flats in 2016 and they allege that after a couple of years, the building started developing leaks. According to residents, on Monday evening, four children who had just returned from school had a narrow miss after a portion of concrete from the ceiling near the lift in B Block collapsed with a thud. “A month ago, a similar incident happened on the first floor. Leakage is common in most flats,” said a resident.
Visalakshmi Balakrishnan, a 72- year old resident, said that she has been living in the complex since 2016. “We spend atleast 55,000 every year on repair work. We approached the high court, but there was no respite,” she said, adding that many of the residents are senior citizens.

The association registered a complaint with the Virugambakkam police station. . “They have given us a CSR,” said Visalakshi. Sandeep, managing director, Jain Housing and Constructions limited, said that rectification work is being carried out in buildings. He said that there were some defects and repair work is being carried out regularly.
J Radhakrishnan, commissioner, GCC, said that he has informed the legal cell of GCC to provide necessary support.