HYDERABAD: As incidents of under construction building collapses have risen to alarming levels in the city, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has decided to constitute an expert committee to suggest measures for ensuring quality in construction works and to prevent collapse of structures in future.
More than 10 people died in under construction building collapse incidents in the recent past in Hyderabad, thus raising fear among people and also bringing disrepute to the GHMC, as everyone pointed fingers towards the officials.
To steer clear of criticism, corporation officials have decided to constitute an expert committee and have sent a proposal to the government on Sunday.
“While according building permissions, certain documents are taken from builders, architects, engineers and owners by GHMC regarding quality of construction and adherence to the sanctioned plan. But there is no regulation or practice of inspecting the buildings from the structural safety or construction quality angle. Not knowing this, many are holding GHMC responsible for under construction building collapses,” said a senior official from the town planning wing of the civic body.
According to officials, town planning staff are not even qualified enough to check the quality of construction. As most of the incidents of collapse of building/arch/canopy have occurred due to improper scaffolding, lack of supervision of site engineers, poor workmanship, faulty design and construction procedures among other reasons, the GHMC has decided to constitute an expert committee to address the problem.
The committee will examine the entire gambit of construction of buildings in a comprehensive manner and form a strategy to prevent such incidents in the future. The committee may discuss with professional bodies, but GHMC wants it to submit the report within four weeks.