Chandralok complex faces bulldozer threat

HYDERABAD: Officials of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) have threatened to demolish the five-decade-old Chandralok complex if immediate repairs are not taken up on the dilapidated commercial structure.The warning follows a report filed by experts of the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University and Osmania University about the complex's precarious condition.
The JNTU report suggests that the building, located at Paradise Circle, has a roof which has weakened over the years.“Even the parapet walls on the terrace are inclined,“ N V Ramana Rao, a civil engineering expert from JNTU, told TOI.
There are at least 60 shops that are occupied in the complex. “We have asked complex traders to repair the building if they want to resume working from the premises,“ Rao told TOI. The JNTU report also calls for immediate rehabilitation of traders as the building needs to have centering work redone. Several repair works are also needed on the ground floor.
Officials of the GHMC's town planning wing say that the report on the structural stability of the building re commends against it being used. The complex was sealed by authorities on December 12, following the death of a man after a portion of the building collapsed on him.
“It is not only elevation but also the railings, projections and parapet walls around the commercial complex that are in bad shape. Residential portions are no better. We want shop owners to take up immediate repair works, otherwise the complex might have to be bulldozed,“ said ED Vijaya Raju, deputy commissioner (circle-18). When contacted, Laxma Reddy , a member of the traders' association, said that they would take up repair work immediately .“We want to work out of this building, so we will rectify areas that the report suggests,“ he said.