After he let out his individual house in Alwarthirunagar, a neighbourhood in the Valsaravakkam zone, there was a constant in his life. Every monsoon, he would be subjected to lengthy telephonic complaint from his tenant. The house would be inundated, and there seemed to be little anyone could do about it. As the road had been re-laid without milling many a time, it was considerably higher than the plot on which the house stood.
Babu said, “In 2015, this problem hit an all-time low. One third of the house was submerged in water. The tenant vacated and it was difficult to find another one. So, the house stayed locked for many months. Prospective tenants seemed to know the house was inundation-prone. Fortunately, I read an article in The Hindu about how houses could be lifted to prevent them from getting inundated.” Babu zeroed in on a house-lifting service provider. What followed was a massive operation. Nearly 250 jacks — each with a capacity to handle 90 tonnes — were used. Twenty-five workers were engaged in the work, recalls Babu.
“Without a single crack, the entire house was lifted by four feet. The exercise cost me somewhere between ₹3 lakh and ₹4 lakh,” adds Babu.
“After the floods in 2015, residents have been warming up to the idea of having their houses lifted. There have been many inquiries from Velachery and Madipakkam,” says Thanigaimalai of Ambattur-based Champion Building Lifting Services, which is in the business of lifting houses.
Thanigaimalai says even small-sized apartment complexes can be lifted. However, larger the structure, the greater the scale of operations. Additional parameters would also enter the picture. In one of the usual projects he has handled, the Nagathamman temple in Venkateshwara Nagar, Ramapuram was lifted.