KP building elevators are unsafe due to lack of safety systems like ARD and have caused many problems to the residents.
KP building elevators are an unsafe means of moving people
After a 60-year-old man fell to his death in one of the elevator shafts of the KP building in Pulianthope, residents said that even after the horrific incident, not much has been done to improve the safety of the elevators.
For this reason, residents have to use the stairs to maintain their safety.
During TNIE’s visit to the building, residents said, “Critical safety features for lifts such as Automatic Rescue Device (ARD) system or Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) are not installed in some blocks.”
An elevator operator said, “I have been an elevator operator in various places, including hotels, and usually all elevators are equipped with ARD systems. Absence of such a system here leads to people being trapped during power outages.”
Elaborating on this, a technical technician said, “The lift’s ARD system is designed to safely bring passengers to the nearest floor and automatically open the doors in the event of a power failure, and operates on backup power. “However, some elevators in the KP building lack this system.”
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Usually, the most common cause of elevator failure is power failure. Because the power lines used for water motors, elevators of KP building and some houses are shared and whenever one of these systems is shut down for maintenance, the other systems also become inoperable.
According to Vanessa Peter, founder of ICRDUC, a person should be tasked with assessing the quality of KP building lifts, houses and other infrastructure facilities in the township. All the information obtained from the investigations should be provided to the stakeholders.
Speaking to TNIE, a TNUHBD official denied the absence of ARD system in 28 lifts there. He claimed that the recent fatal accident, in which the elevator was stuck between the seventh and eighth floors, occurred only because of the disconnection of one phase.
This caused the ARD system to not recognize it as a power outage and therefore not act. “To prevent such incidents, we plan to install a phase change switch to ensure proper operation of the ARD even when one phase is interrupted.”
He added: “Inspection is carried out in all elevators of the KP building to ensure the proper functioning of all the features of the ARD system.”
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