A Tamil Nadu slum board building located in Chennai’s Tiruvottiyur area collapsed into a heap of debris on Monday, December 27, morning, triggering panic in the area. According to reports, the D block of the Arivakulam Cottage Replacement Board residential area developed cracks on Sunday night, and 24 families who were living in the building were immediately evacuated. Chief Minister MK Stalin has announced Rs 1 lakh compensation to each family that lost their homes and has promised immediate resettlement.

The Arivakulam Cottage Replacement Board residential area, on Grama street in Chennai, was built in 1993, and currently houses over 1,000 people in about 360 houses in all the blocks. There are nine blocks in the complex, and people from two blocks — C and D — were evacuated on Sunday. Most of the four-storeyed buildings in the residential area are in a precarious condition. Visuals from the ground show that some walls have also collapsed in block C, and so people living in the block have also been evacuated.

On Monday morning, the building began to shake and tiles from the walls and ceiling began to fall off. Panicking that the building was about to collapse, people in and around the block fled. Officials from the fire department and Tiruvottiyur police are at the spot and are trying to ascertain whether there are any people trapped under the debris.

Residents of the complex have been complaining about the damaged condition of the buildings in the Arivakulam residential block. Reports say many times before, the roof in B Block has fallen in several times. However, despite multiple complaints, the authorities did not act on the complaints.