Dilapidated Hyderabad buildings pose big risk, but renovation is long way off

HYDERABAD: While Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is going tough on encroachments and unauthorised constructions, it is turning a blind eye towards

dilapidated buildings

which could become an issue during the rains.

In a day eight illegal constructions were razed and 19 encroachments and unauthorised constructions were pulled down. However, not even one old building has been death with. Structurally unfit buildings are in all the zones of GHMC, including the markets where footfall is high, and nothing is being done to either fix them or take them down.

At

Sultan Bazar

, the streets are lined with a lot of stalls selling clothes on the ground floors of many dilapidated buildings. Dilapidated structures were spotted on the main road connecting

Himayatnagar

to Liberty Cross Road. Many shops there have been set up on the ground floor of a dilapidated building, while the other floors in bad condition were demolished. The government quarters in Malakpet, allocated for state govt employees decades ago, is in bad shape.

GHMC officials said they have demolished around 400 structurally unfit buildings in two years and are in the process of identifying more ahead of the monsoon.

“Many people, who have been served with notices to have their buildings renovated have approached us. We need to inspect them and take a decision,” said GHMC chief city planner S

Devender Reddy

.

Even the structural stability of hoarding should be tested before monsoon said experts. “Summer is the appropriate time to identify, asses and do the needful, to either renovate or take down these buildings. People staying in the structures will also get ample time if notices are served beforehand. The hoarding should also be tested to avoid mishaps,” said Prof NV Ramana Rao National Institute of Technology (NIT),

Warangal

.

Passers-by and commuters said that the structurally unfit buildings should be identified and dealth with before something untoward happens, especially in places where footfall is high.