Coimbatore: Tense situation prevailed in front of the Court Complex here on Monday after one of the restaurants of Sree Annapoorna Gowrisankar was demolished partially by KG hospital Management, their land owner.
Coimbatore: Tense situation prevailed in front of the Court Complex here on Monday after one of the restaurants of Sree Annapoorna Gowrisankar was demolished partially by KG Hospital Management, their land owner.
The demolition was carried after the legal orders were issued by Revenue divisional officer (North) on Friday. Notices were served to both KG and Sree Annapoorna, citing violations as per Tamil Nadu Public Building Licensing Act 1965 and Tamil Nadu Public Building ( licensing) rules, 1966.
As per the notification issued, Annapoorna Hotels have been functioning in the premises of KG Hospital without a Form D license which is mandatory for public buildings. As per the notice, an onsite inspection was conducted by a panel of engineers from the District administration who found the the building to be structurally not strong enough to conduct business which involves hundreds of public walking through every day.
Citing the incident that happened at the railway parcel office building on August 8 where two people died in the building collapse, the designated authority has issued a certificate in Form C affirming that the said building is not strong enough and has to be demolished with immediate effect.
The notification also points that the functioning of this building restricts the hospital of having an additional exit or an entrance for emergency cases. Presently, KG hospital has only one gate for entry and exit.
Also, the order confirms that a portion of Sree Annapoorna hotel is blocking the area earmarked for the emergency exit. Time and again, it was advised by the authorities to demolish that portion and construct a emergency exit for patients and public. While, the management of KG hospitals were asked to renew Form D building license after constructing the emergency exit.
Following the notification issued to both the parties, the management of KG hospital management demolished the said portion of the hotel on Sunday night.
When contacted, the hospital management stated that in spite of repeated requests for vacating the said portion of the hotel, for the past 4 yrs, the management of Annapoorna hotels did not oblige. "We have been calling the Annapoorna management for a discussion for the past four years to resolve the issue amicably, as per law."
"Even after constructing the new building and extending the existing premises, we were unable to use it full-fledgedly, because the hospital did not have a separate emergency exit whose space was blocked by the hotel. Despite of repeated intimation from our side, the hotel management was not willing to act. We had to follow the law and so once we got the notification last week from the authorities, we went ahead with the demolition of the said portion" clarified a senior management person from KG Hospital.
Though the hotel has been functioning in the KG hospital premises for the past 45 years, they don't have hold a valid rental agreement, as mentioned in the notification issued by the Tahsildar North.
Contradicting to the clarification issued by KG hospital, Ramasamy, Chairman of Sree Annapoorna Sree Gowrishankar Hotels Pvt. Ltd. has called the act of demolition as "very cowardly".
"It saddens me to share this dastardly act of violence and complete disregard for law. This morning around 12:30 am, the KG hospital group without any prior notice decided to evict their tenant Annapoorna hotel functioning in Arts College road by demolishing the building. During the act people working inside the building were injured greviously and a portion of the kitchen was completely demolished. We can't beleive that in this day and age KG hospital thinks it can get away with such acts of violence. We sincerely hope the police take serious action against the KG group for this deplorable act."
An official statement issued by the Annapoorna management also stated that few of their employees got injured by the assault carried out by the KG hospital staff and are presently in treatment at the Intensive care unit of GH.
Seconding the Annapoorna Management, the Hoteliers association has condemned the management of KG hospital and issued a statement. "On Monday around 12:30 AM, a team of workers and representatives from the management of KG hospital group without any prior information, deployed JCBs and man power demolished the traditional Hotel Annapoorna that is situated on the Government Arts College road and near by the KG hospital."
The statement further added that the team of workers from the KG group also pelted stones, threw wooden logs and sprayed water on the hotel building, thus damaging a major part of the building and left the labourers injured.
"The KG hospital did not not consider the fact that damage to LPG and electricity lines passing through the hotel boundaries that may have caused serious consequences. The action of KG hospital is highly condemnable ", said the press statement from Coimbatore District Hoteliers Association (CDHA).
The association has also warned that if necessary action against the hospital is not taken by the authorities, the issue will be escalated to the State Government.
Following the incident, the management of Annapoorna has filed a official police complaints against the management of KG hospitals for causing damage to their property and workers.
Considering the fact that the said building has violated norms and notice has been served by the RDO to demolish, its now upto to the authorities to take apt action. It may be noted that Annapoorna management was notified by the officials and by the KG Management about the violation and the need for them to vacate the building.
But even with the orders in hand, it is incomprehensible why KG Hospital group would take on the demolition at midnight with live gas connections and EB connections in the building. They could have definitely used the government machinery to do the eviction just like the order they received from the Thasildar.
Both KG Group and Sree Annapoorna groups are equally influential organisations and have played a pivotal role in putting the city in the global map. Since the incident happened, baseless information questioning the integrity of both the organisations have been circulating in social media.
Notice from the Thasildhar issued to both KG and Annapoorna
