Fire mishap snowballing into major political issue

Hyderabad: The issue of illegal constructions is likely to become a major political issue. Minister for Animal Husbandry Talasani Srinivas Yadav on Friday said the demolition of illegal buildings was not an easy task. He said there were about 25,000 illegal constructions and they cannot be demolished overnight.

Meanwhile, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy visited the spot and asked the state government to take serious action over the incident and come up with measures to end the menace of illegal constructions whether it be in domestic sector or commercial complexes.

He said all warehouses need to be examined and action should be taken against all such buildings. The authorities need to check which all commercial complexes in the heart of the city were being used as warehouses and they should be shifted to city outskirts.

The Opposition parties took strong objection to the statement of Srinivas Yadav that illegal constructions cannot be removed overnight. The government had started a major drive against illegal constructions soon after it came to power but somehow nothing much happened, they say.

According to the sources, the Minister's Road area where the incident took place was a residential area till the 1980s. It was later converted into a commercial zone. The Deccan Sports Complex has been in business since 2008. The owner had added another floor against the norms. Though he had taken permission for the godown, he had installed printing machinery in the building.

Meanwhile, NIIT Director Ramana Rao opined that the building is in dilapidated condition due to massive fire. The slab of the building had collapsed. He suggested that building should not be used as it could collapse anytime.

On the other hand, even as a thorough probe is pending into the cause of the fire, a senior officer of the Electricity department, Sridhar ruled out the possibility of a short circuit. He said even while fire was raging, power supply was recorded in the power meter.

Police said the owner of the building, Javed ran away soon after the incident. The police have launched search operation for him.