Secunderabad Inferno: Atlast, demolition of Deccan complex begins

Hyderabad: The demolition of the Deccan Knitwear Sports commercial complex that was gutted in a massive fire outbreak last week began on Friday. The complete demolition process will have no human interference and will be carried out using hydraulic breaker machines and diamond cutters. It is expected that the entire building will be razed and the area will be cleared in a week.

GHMC invited tenders for the demolition of the building as the. The decision was taken after the committee of structural engineering concluded that the building was 80 percent damaged and was unsafe and could collapse anytime. The committee included Ramana Rao, Director of NIIT, Warangal.

According to the officials, the building is being demolished using the hydraulic crusher demolition method without causing any danger to the surrounding buildings. After much delay due to several technical reasons, the actual demolition of the complex on Thursday night and continued till 2 am, as two heavy machines were brought to demolish the building.

It was a difficult task for the authorities to demolish the building without causing any damage to the surrounding structures under the supervision of police and fire personnel. During the demolition, minor fire was elevated but was bought under control.

"The hydraulic machines demolish the building without collapsing and tilting on one side at a time. The process started from the top floors, with the help of machines the 15-member team first cut the edges, and pillars, and then columns and beams were removed. One entire floor (6th floor) and some part of the lower floor of the building has been demolished so far," said the officials

If there are no obstacles, the entire demolition work will end within a week. If the neighbouring buildings face danger of collapsing, the process can take a bit longer, said an engineer.

The residents who lived nearby were evacuated, and police personnel closed the surrounding areas with barricades. As a precautionary measure, the main roads towards the Deccan Knitwear Sports building were shut down for traffic. Other commercial establishments located nearby have been cordoned for safety. High-tension electric wires that were located near the demolition site were removed and high-focus lights were installed to ensure better visibility.

The building demolition was scheduled to start on Thursday morning but got delayed as the machinery, especially the long breaker crane, had to be replaced with equipment of heavier capacity. Later, GHMC had to cancel the demolition contract that was given to an earlier agency and later gave the contract to a new agency.