After Porayar tragedy, govt told to renovate buildings

CHENNAI: Taking suo motu cognisance of the roof collapse at Porayar depot in Nagapattinam district that left eight bus crew members dead a few days ago, the First Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday directed the State government and the TN State Transport Corporation to ensure renovation of all such structures across the State.

When the Bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar commenced its proceedings in the morning, advocate R Y George Williams made a mention and brought the issue to the notice of the court. Submitting various news articles reported in the dailies, he requested the court to initiate suo-motu proceedings by impleading the authorities concerned.Concurring with the submission of Williams, the Bench ordered to issue notice to the secretary, TN State Transport Department, and the TNSTC returnable in four weeks.

The authorities shall immediately inspect all such structures and carry out necessary repair works and ensure adequate treatment and compensation to the victims and their families, it added.
In the early hours of October 20, seven drivers of TNSTC and a conductor who were taking rest under the four-decade-old roof died on the spot when a portion of the building collapsed.

The deceased were identified as Muniyappan, Chandrasekar, Prabakar, Ramalingam, Manivannan, Dhanapal, Anbarasan and Balu. Three more were injured in the incident. The State government has already announced a financial aid of `7.5 lakh each to the families of the deceased and government jobs to the kin of the deceased.