IIT Madras expert to submit report on cracks in heritage buildings

Chennai:

Chennai Metro Rail has sought the opinion of Indian Institute of Technology expert after a 153-year-old CSI Tamil Wesley Church in Broadway suffered cracks as a tunnel-boring machine of Chennai Metro Rail drilled between Mannadi and Madras High Court.

A senior metro rail official said that Chennai Metro Rail is going in for an impartial assessment of the cracks caused during the tunneling operations that happened around 2 am on Saturday when the TBM drilled about 50 metres in the stretch.A professor from structural engineering department Arun Menon will be submitting a report after assessing the damages.

Meanwhile, another Broadway church developed cracks. Officials said that more than 100-year-old Arcot Lutheran Church on Prakasam Salai in Broadway developed cracks as tunnel boring machine was drilling through the Mannadi-Madras High Court stretch.

 

This comes in the wake of Chennai Metro Rail officials assuring the CSI Wesley Tamil Aalayam church authorities that the repair works on the CSI Wesley Tamil Alayam may be completed in a week’s time.

Metro Rail officials said that the tunnel boring works would continue and ruled out any threats to the buildings. 

Meanwhile, Tamil Aalayam church officials confirmed that the IIT official inspected the site. “He was here for only 10 minutes along with senior metro rail officials,” a church official said. Interestingly, media was not allowed inside and the inspection was held behind the close doors.

Selena Sunita Mohanraj, a member of the church said that officials have yet to conduct the laser test. “We want the church to be restored besides it should be also strong enough to withstand time and tide as it had since the last 153 years,” she added.