Hyderabad: Team to probe into killer building blaze

Hyderabad: During the investigation into the massive fire breakout in Balaji Residency in the Red Hills area of Nampally, where nine persons were killed on Monday, police registered a case against the building owner under three Sections. A team has been formed to investigate the condition of the building.

According to the officials, the building owner took permission for the stilt plus the first floor about 20 years ago but constructed one stilt plus four floors with 16 flats and regularised the building under the Building Penalisation Scheme (BPS) in 2008. There are no setbacks on the east side, and the remaining sides are less than one metre, and the building has no fire safety systems in place.

On Tuesday, a team was formed, and officials from Clues Teams and experts from JNTU visited the affected building to examine the condition. The fire department said that, being a residential apartment, the stilt floor is meant for parking, but instead, chemical drums, FRP rolls, raw materials, polyester resin, and related products were stored, which is illegal.

Even in the setbacks of the building, the above materials were dumped, which led to the quick spread of fire vertically once ignition occurred and fire developed in the ground. Smoke quickly engulfed the stairwell of the only available staircase.

However, there was no complaint about the storage of hazardous materials on the building premises.

Hyderabad city police registered a criminal case against Ramesh Jaiswal, the owner of the building, for storing hazardous chemicals. They said building owner Ramesh Jaiswal was charged under Sections 304(ii), 285, and 286 of the IPC and Section 9B of the Explosive Substances Act based on a complaint lodged by family members of the victims.

However, the owner was admitted to a hospital due to his ill health. Jaiswal complained of heart problems after he learned about the fire and was admitted to the ICU of a hospital in Lakdikapul. Once he is discharged, we will initiate legal action,” said Nampally police.

The police said Jaiswal has been in the business of supplying chemicals to manufacturers of fibre sheets and cables. “It appears he has been using the ground floor of the building to store chemicals for a long time,” said DCP, central zone, M Venkateshwarulu.

It has been observed that in many of the cases,fire broke out in illegal chemical warehouses. Residents alleged that even though complaints were lodged, concerned authorities neither inspected the sites nor took any action.

Even after a number of tragic fire incidents that took place in the city, GHMC could not make much headway in checking fire safety arrangements in various godowns, warehouses, and commercial establishments across the city.

Many buildings lack adequate fire-fighting infrastructure, and the equipment installed at other buildings fails to work during crucial times due to the lack of maintenance. According to reports, a large number of fire incidents occur due to the hoarding of materials in violation of the rules.