Hyderabad: GHMC after people to vacate risky buildings

Hyderabad: With unprecedented floods which weren't witnessed in past 40 years, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has requested people to cooperate with the officials in vacating the flooded areas and shift to safe shelters. In another extraordinary move, the government has also ordered forcible evacuation of those living in old and dilapidated buildings which are on the verge of collapse as a measure to prevent loss of lives.

It also deployed 700 personnel of the Disaster Response Force to rescue people from inundated homes using non-mechanised boats. The town planning wing found that there are a total of 531 dilapidated structures, out of which 176 have been demolished and 109 have been either repaired or vacated.

In the past one week, 65 dilapidated structures have been pulled down and the inmates living in those buildings have been moved to shelter homes. The officials are sealing buildings that pose threat and setting up barricades around such structures to avert danger. Notices cautioning public not to move around the structure have been displayed.

GHMC Commissioner Lokesh Kumar has said that relief operations have been intensified to bring back normalcy in inundated areas.

Zonal commissioners, additional commissioners and deputy commissioners are in the field and monitoring the relief operations. Chief Minister's relief kits are being distributed to the affected people. A total 72 teams and 106 water pumps from the engineering and maintenance side and 170 monsoon teams with 202 water pumps are engaged in pumping out water from the apartment cellars and inundated colonies.