Dilapidated Buildings causes GHMC grave concern
Hyderabad: The G block located in the state Secretariat which had accommodated the offices of former chief ministers such as N.T. Rama Rao and Jalagam Vengal Rao was identified as a dilapidated building about a year ago, however it is yet to be demolished.
The engineers of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) along with the town planners, who had recently undertaken a fresh survey of dilapidated buildings, categorized 157 more buildings in addition to the 274 which already existed on their list. Of the new 157 categorized dilapidated buildings, the G block, belonging to the Secretariat is one such building.
In accordance with the GHMC zonal commissioner (central zone) – Siva Parvathi, after the GHMC engineers completed their inspection of the G Block building within the Secretariat it was deemed to be demolished, and a written request has been submitted to the Roads and Buildings Department to get the building demolished.
Currently, there are no offices in G Block. After inquiring into the origins of the building, it was revealed that the G Block was built during the reign of the Nizam and was eventually used as an administrative building since the past fifty years.
Ensuing a public interest litigation stating the G Block to be a heritage building was filed, the state government was directed by the High Court, to take a decision on whether to demolish or conserve the building. The state government organized a committee which comprised of experts in heritage conservation as well as heritage lovers. After inspecting the building the committee submitted a report stating that the building failed to qualify as a heritage building and it was not put on the heritage list.
A panel under the leadership of the then chief secretary – Pankaj Dwivedi, was set up to counsel and recommend on the course to be taken. Majority of the members favored the decision of demolishing the existing structure and constructing a new building in its place. The same was filed and duly forwarded to the Chief Minister’s office and a decision on the same has been pending from the past one year.
On the flip side GHMC demolishes twelve Buildings in a single day:
In other related issue, one day after the collapse of the City Light Hotel building, special teams of GHMC demolished 12 dilapidated buildings, situated at various places, within the city.
Fueled by the heat generated due to the collapse of City Light Hotel building, the GHMC bull dozers faced little resistance. However, inmates of few of the buildings complained about not being provided sufficient time to vacate. For the first time, in the municipal corporation’s history, twelve dilapidated buildings were demolished in a single day. GHMC officials appealed to the citizens to extend their cooperation, as the demolitions are planned to continue for almost a week.
Buildings are continually being identified by the GHMC officials on the basis of their external appearance only. No wave or engineering tests have been conducted to assess the internal fitness of the beams, ceilings and columns or even the binding strength of these buildings. Almost twenty lives are lost each year due to structural collapses in the city with leaving even more injured. The GHMC is focusing on demolishing dilapidated buildings situated in the old city.
A maximum of thirteen buildings were demolished within Circle 1 at Yellareddyguda and Kushaiguda followed by another nine structures located within Circle 4 at Purani Haveli, Gowlipura, Yakutpura, Brahmanwadi, Pusalabasti and Bada Bazar. Victoria Memorial’s compound wall situated at Saroornagar was also razed down by the GHMC teams. Five other buildings belonging to the Circle 6 at Shivarampally, Premavathipeta and Laxmiguda were also attended by the demolition squads while another five were demolished in Circle 10 at Banjara Hills and Chintalbasti. One residential and three commercial structures were demolished within Circle 18 at old Bhoiguda and Nala Bazar.
In the mean time, the Town Planning wing of Circle 12 led by the Zonal Commissioner, seized two buildings, an Anganwadi Centre constructed at old Hafeezpet and a residential property at Taranagar. Enlisting the help of local police, the GHMC team also removed 50 encroachments at Allwyn junction.
As per the National Crime Records Bureau, as many as 128 cases of structural collapses within the city have been recorded in the last five years. Officials say most of these deaths are during the monsoons when walls of dilapidated buildings collapse. Last year, Hyderabad was also one the cities that recorded the highest number of deaths due to structural collapses in the country.
But, sometimes, like in the case of City Light Hotel, the buildings that collapse don’t figure on their list of dilapidated structures. As per a GHMC official, the GHMC is trying to identify the dilapidated structures, however in a lot of buildings there are violations. Sometimes a newly constructed building or one which is under-construction might also collapse.
