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Babu Venugopalan, 46, a casual worker, shudders to ideate what destiny mightiness person befallen his 2 children had the ceiling instrumentality successful their P&T flat astatine Mundamveli collapsed connected them alternatively of him.
He was drying his hairsbreadth aft a bath connected Friday (June 12, 2026) evening erstwhile the ceiling instrumentality successful his chamber abruptly came unhinged, striking his enarthrosis and slamming its blades against his chest, leaving him with bruises and contusions. He has present been advised to acquisition a CT scan astatine the Ernakulam General Hospital connected Monday (June 15, 2026). Though fortunate to person escaped much superior injuries, helium has been near indisposed and his livelihood has been disrupted.
“Luckily, my 2 sons, aged 8 and 12, were extracurricular playing erstwhile the incidental occurred. It could easy person proved fatal. Our flat operation has developed a tilt and is unfit for habitation. We were promised eden erstwhile we moved present but are present near to rot successful hell. The proximity of high-tension powerfulness lines poses superior information hazards to residents,” said Mr. Venugopalan. He added that h2o had been leaking into the instrumentality cup, which had astir apt caused rusting of the full system, starring to the collapse.
Residents, organised nether the P&T Apartment Owners Association, are preparing to motorboat yet different protestation astatine the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) office successful Kadavanthra connected Monday, demanding an contiguous solution to their woes. On May 26, they staged a day-long siege of the GCDA, which commissioned the towers, pressing for enactment connected the alleged usurpation of the mandatory region norms separating the 110-kV other high-tension (EHT) enactment from the duplicate towers.
A gathering convened by the District Collector successful February had resolved to undertake fibre plastering astatine a outgo of ₹28 lakh connected the exterior of the duplicate flat blocks astatine Mundamveli arsenic an interim measurement to apprehension leakage earlier the onset of the monsoon, with imperishable structural rectifications promised by the extremity of the year.
“Leakage-proof measures recommended by an adept committee study of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras up of the monsoon stay unimplemented. We are present banking connected a submission connected our plight that Kochi MLA Mohammed Shiyas is acceptable to rise successful the Assembly during the adjacent session,” said Association president Abhilash P. Parameswaran.
Almost each apartments began leaking during the precise archetypal spell of showers aft residents moved into the duplicate blocks, comprising 44 and 42 units, successful January 2024. Internal leakage from bathrooms was besides reported soon thereafter, compounding the crisis.
