Rumour mills spin stories of tilted buildings

CHENNAI: The tremors in the city sparked panic and rumours with one going to the extent of claiming that a large commercial complex, ‘JC House’, opposite the Beach railway station had tilted to one side, looking like the leaning tower of Pisa. When Express reporters rushed to the spot on Second Line Beach, the building continued to stand tall and str-ong. The security personnel of a bank in the complex said employees rushed out as soon as they were ‘told’ that the building was sinking.“We don’t know how it all started. But people started shouting that the building is tilting towards one side. We rushed out. Only later we realised that the building had not sunk,” a security guard said. Similarly, the story of another old building near Salt Cotaurs railway lines in Choolai being on the verge of collapse turned out to be false.Stories such as these, coupled with a tsunami warning (which was later withdrawn) alongside the tremors, pro-mpted several commercial firms, administrative sections in railway offices in Park Town and the State secretariat to leave quite early.Rumours were not only about sinking buildings. W-hen it was announced that the MRTS trains were being suspended briefly to inspect the elevated sections of railway lines, ‘word’ spread fast that a pillar supporting the MRTS had developed a huge crack near Mandaveli.“We were told that the crack in the pillar had pr-ompted the railway administration to stop the service,” said S Arun, a marketing executive. Obviously, this was also false and there was no damage or crack anywhere.It was not rumour alone. But panic and anxiety drove people to the streets. By 2.45 pm, about 100 employees of BSNL in Periyar Building on EVK Sampath Salai rushed to the road sparking chaos.Also, the patients in the Government General Hospital, the Children’s Hospital and employees in the Thalamuthu Natarajan Malligai in Egmore ran out after tremors were felt. Another fallout of the tremors was the huge traffic blocks on many arterial roads, including Rajaji Salai, EVR Periyar Road and Anna Salai.