Traders violated norms

CHENNAI: The buiildings of the traders in T Nagar area were sealed as they had violated the building plans and had no fire safety equipment, the CMDA said in its counter-affidavit in the Madras High Court on Tuesday.The counter was filed in response to a batch of writ petitions from various traders associations and individuals, seeking to re-open their shops.It said that only six buildings of Chennai Silks, Ratna Stores, Sat Complex and Jayachandran Textiles, on Ranganathan Street and Usman Road, were sealed on October 31 last year after following all the due process of law.In many of the buildings, fire safety measures were not adequate due to non-provision of fire fighting installations and unavailability of set back space for movement of fire/high rise building ladder units. Narrow, congested roads and heavy traffic added to this. The other violations in the form of additional floors— thereby increasing the fire load— lack of escape stair-cases/blocked or locked exits, posed serious threat for effective evacuation during emergencies. Some buildings had high voltage transformers in close proximity, which increased the fire risk on the premises, the CMDA said, and sought to dismiss the writ pleas.