150-year-old rickety building razed to ground

Shalibanda: GHMC's Town Planning Wing Department officials demolished the age-old structure that was in a dilapidated condition. Located besides Pista House in Shalibanda, it was razed to the ground under the supervision of senior officials on Wednesday.

Speaking about the property, GHMC Assistant City Planner (ACP) Devanand said that the property (20-4-146/123) was more than 150 years old and it remained in a dilapidated state. "The total area of the property is 100 square yards and the GHMC has demolished 80 sq yd and the remaining will be demolished by Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) in the future, as part of road widening works for facilitating the Metro route on this corridor," he added.

Devanand also said that the GHMC has been serving notices to the residents to vacate the property since 1986. But every time, they replied by saying that the structure of property will be repaired. On Wednesday, along with the police officials, the property was evacuated and demolished.

Devanand also said that the demolition works of dilapidate structures were going on and that they would be completed in the next two days.

The officials also hoped that the demolition would also facilitate the on-going Metro Rail project works. During the operation, three JCBs were also utilised. The structure was built using granite stones, and hence the works progressed slowly during the day. The officials with strong police presence undertook the activity by completely blocking the main road that connects Charminar and Shalibanda.

It may be mentioned here that the higher officials, including Principal Secretary (MAUD) Arvind Kumar and GHMC Commissioner Dana Kishore have asked the officials to take up the demolition works of the dilapidated structures and also requested the locals to cooperate in this endeavour.

There are over 765 old and dilapidated buildings in and around the city under GHMC limits and that include 484 structures that were identified last year. However, over 400 such structures were already demolished.

The cosmopolitan body has identified dilapidated buildings based on the structural safety recommendations from the Engineering Department and took up the demolition drive of those buildings that posed high risk on priority.

As per the official estimates, some 382 such structures were demolished since January this year, as a part of action plan. GHMC Commissioner Dana Kishore, during a recent review meeting has instructed the officials to act swiftly against illegal constructions, encroachment of lakes and nalas in and around the city.