Families evacuated, two injured as roof of an old house collapses in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Two people suffered injuries on Tuesday morning when the roof of the old house they were living in collapsed due to heavy rains at Afzal Sagar, which falls under the Nampally constituency .

The injured has been admitted to a private hospital in Nampally. On receiving information, the Disaster Response Force (DRF) and other civic body officials rushed to the spot and rescued other family members who trapped in the dilapidated house.

Later, Nampally MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) Jaffar Hussain Meraj along with government officials the fromTown Planning department of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) evacuated 13 households from other dilapidated houses as well.

“The rescued households were the tenants of the building near Albert school in the Afzal Sagar area, who were living in the two-story building with a penthouse which was constructed without columns. The slab of this the building collapsed today and they were shifted to local community halls,” informed Mallepally division corporator Mohd Iqbal.

The Town Planning Department also issued red caution notices to three owners of dilapidated buildings in Mallepally under section 459 of HMC Act, 1995. Of the houses, two are located in the chicken market of Nampally, Khusro Manzil in AC Guards and another in the Afzal Sagar area.

The decision was taken following the recent death of two women who died after the roof of their house collapsed at  Hussainialam in the Old City of Hyderabad. Meanwhile, assistant city planners in Hyderabad have been directed to conduct surveys with engineering officers and identify dilapidated buildings to be demolished in the city. As per records, out of the 586 weak structures identified, 200 have been demolished by the GHMC so far. Moreover, 388 house owners have been notified about the same.