HYDERABAD: As many as 974 old buildings in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits are in a dilapidated condition and might cave any time.
The buildings are found to be unfit because of weak structural stability. Some old buildings had collapsed in the last few years, particularly during the rainy season, leading to loss of life. The town planning and engineering wing, which conducted a survey of dilapidated buildings some time ago, detected as many as 1,819 such structures in the twin cities.
GHMC circles 4, 5, 8, 9 and 18 account for more than 50 per cent of these buildings, which according to the officials, must be demolished. GHMC has slapped notices on the owners as well as tenants of the buildings and asked them either repair or demolish them. Of the 1,819, about 845 owners have repaired the structures but the remaining have failed to do so.
GHMC officials told Express that the town planning wing had slapped notices under Section 456 of the HMC Act to house owners. A few of them undertook repairs and some were demolished in recent years. To avoid demolitions, a few obtained stay orders from courts, stalling demolitions.
The officials said disputes between owners and tenants or reluctance of owners to move out had put brakes on the demolition work for the last 3 to 4 years. Most of the old buildings are in the Old City, Feelkhana, Jummerat Bazar, Mangalhat, Dhoolpet, Siddiambar Bazar, Begum Bazar and Secunderabad.
