Resident of K.P. Park in Pulianthope dies after accidentally falling from lift

A 60-year-old resident died on Saturday after accidentally falling from an elevator that became stuck between two floors in the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board high-rise apartments at Keseva Pillai Park in Pulianthope.

A 60-year-old resident died on Saturday after accidentally falling from an elevator that became stuck between two floors in the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB) high-rise apartments at Keseva Pillai (K.P.) Park in Pulianthope.

The police identified the victim as S. Ganeshan, a resident of the eighth floor of the tenement’s E-block. On Friday, when he was descending in the elevator, it got stuck between the sixth and seventh floors due to a power outage. Schoolchildren passing by noticed that Ganeshan was inside the elevator. They alerted Samuvel, the elevator operator, who rushed to the floor, opened the lift’s door, and attempted to rescue Ganeshan. Ganeshan, who was reportedly drunk, accidentally fell into the gap between the wall and the elevator and landed in the basement. He died on the spot, the police said.

The Pulianthope police and the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services personnel reached the spot and recovered the body. The police registered a case under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code for unnatural death.

Residents of the newly built tenements had been complaining of poor quality of construction and structural issues in the buildings, including the elevator facility, for a while now. The tenements have 1,900 flats in four towers with nine floors each and four towers with 11 floors each.

Vanessa Peter, Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities, said, “There have been several issues related to poor maintenance of elevators in sites such as Perumbakkam prior to this incident. There should be an audit on the quality and functioning of the lifts these tenements. If the TNUHDB has insurance for the elevators it has to be displayed in the lifts and also informed to the residents’ welfare associations.” 

“The lifts are not maintained properly and have no proper power back-up. Residents frequently complain about lift facilities and other problems. They should be duly addressed,” said G. Selva, secretary of the Central District Committee, CPI(M).