Hyderabad: With a family and little children in the house, life came to a halt for Mehraj Begum, whose house was breached and destroyed by rocks which literally fell from above. One would never think of something like this happening, but the events of February 18 have left a huge scar on the psyche of people living in her area of Ahmedmagar, First Lancer.
On the intervening night of 17 and 18, huge boulders and rocks suddenly began falling from the higher hilly areas of Road No. 12 of Banjara Hills on houses at Ahmednagar, First Lancer. While it is not yet clear as to how it happened, affected locals whose homes were destroyed believe that it was a result of constant construction work being taken up without any precautions.
Mehraj begum along with many other residents were waiting outside their houses on Thursday for government officials to take action and investigate the incident. “I have a family and small kids in the house, which was. It is filled with rocks and we have been waiting here outside for someone to do something,” she told siasat.com.
Riddled in panic, the residents claim that the damages could have been more fatal, but thankfully no one was injured. “We have lived here for decades and this is the first time such a big incident has taken place. We suspect that the constructions on the other side of the hill might have caused this accident,” claimed another local resident, who did not want to be quoted.
Residents of First Lancer have been in shock since and fear for their lives. Unless the government does not intervene the residents feel that they might die in such incidents or will have to vacate their houses, in which they have been residents for decades.
“Around 8 pm, on Wednesday night, there was only smoke and noise. We were confused about what was happening. All of us are scared for our lives, as huge rocks fell on our houses. There are many bigger rocks that could collapse later and cause fatal accidents,” said Amaad, a resident Ahmed Nagar.
Residents said that they are now not ready to go back to their homes immediately, and are demanding a detailed investigation of the inciden. They want experts to come up with a solution, so that another such incident does not take place again. In spite of repeated attempts, officials from the Asif Nagar police station could not be reached for a comment.