Telangana Secretariat Debris poses big challenge; GHMC taking safety measures to contain pollution

Hyderabad: While the demolition of the giant buildings in the old Secretariat is going on at a fast pace on the second day on Wednesday, the shifting of debris of the razed buildings posed a big challenge to the Telangana government.

Ten out of five blocks have so far been bulldozed on the first day on Tuesday as the demolition works were being taken up round the clock. By Thursday night, all the structures will be flattened. Officials said that the shifting of debris will be taken up from Friday onwards.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) was entrusted with the responsibility of dumping the debris and the authorities identified Charlapally and Jawaharnagar as suitable locations to dump the debris. Special teams have been formed to segregate concrete and iron used in the construction of the demolished buildings.

The government is planning to rope in 200 heavy vehicles for the transportation of the debris, officials said, adding that it would take at least 15 to 20 days to clear the debris. Heavy vehicles are being hired from private agencies to be used in addition to the vehicles available from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.

The Tamil Nadu government has taken up such a big task of demolition of buildings and shifting of debris in the previous years, Telangana officials said, adding that they were studying the hassle-free technique adopted by that state.

The dumping of such huge debris could cause some air pollution at the dumping yards. The corporation is taking some safety measures to contain pollution. Construction of some structures by using the debris around the dump yards was also one among the options to keep the dumping area clean.

Roads and Building department officials are studying the other options for dumping the debris and the use of concrete for other purposes, if any, officials said and added that special machines are also being used to reduce the demolished concrete structures into small pieces so that the transportation of debris will be easy.