The Hindu               16.07.2013

‘Notices issued to 37 old buildings’

Notices have been issued to the owners of 37 old and dilapidating buildings and the identification process of some more buildings was on and if they fail to respond in a week they would be demolished, according to Collector (In-charge) K. Harshavardhan.

If the owners failed respond on time they would be imposed a penalty, besides demolition of their buildings, he said and warned the authorities concerned that they would be held responsible if they showed negligence in taking action. The dilapidating buildings included both government and private, he said.

Mr. Harshavardhan, who went around in the old town, asked the municipal officials to take steps to get the clogged drains cleaned, repairs to metal and mud roads, besides removal of garbage. Water-logging at the overhead tank at Malapally was likely to seep into public taps thereby contaminating the drinking water and therefore it needs to be cleaned, he said.

Garbage bins

Emphasising on the upkeep of environs, he said mud roads turned inconvenient to people and drain repair works at Girls’ Junior College (Urdu) and CC road construction should be taken up soon.

He also asked to keep garbage bins wherever they were absent and appealed to the people not to send cattle onto roads.

Municipal Commissioner Mangatayaru, Municipal Health Officer Sirajuddin and Tahsildar Rajender accompanied the Collector.

The Hindu               16.07.2013

GHMC moots long-term disaster management plan

GHMC Commissioner M. T. Krishna Babu said here that Hussainsagar and the surrounding heavily populated areas can’t withstand an Uttarakhand-like cloudburst and it certainly would lead to large-scale devastation of lives and property. To counter such situations, the Commissioner maintained that long-term strategies are in place to help tide over crisis of such huge scale.

The Commissioner, while interacting with press persons on Monday, was commenting on the issue of Hussainsagar reaching the Full Tank Level (FTL) after the recent incessant rains. “Families near Hussainsagar should be ready to evacuate and not hesitate during such situations. We have approached the Irrigation Department with a Rs. 35 crore plan that will help in quick artificial depletion of excess water like setting up gates when it rains heavily. We are awaiting clearance,” he said.

As part of the long-term plan, retaining walls at Hussainsagar have to be constructed to control the extra rain water, he said. “We are collaborating with Indian Met Department in Hyderabad to device an early warning system to alert authorities three hours before a possible heavy rainfall. Close to 150 rain gauges will be set up on top of government buildings for accurate measurement of rainfall. Localisation of weather forecasting is vital,” the Commissioner observed. Close to Rs. 1.5 crore is expected to be spent on procurement and setting up of the rain gauges. After the collapse of the City Light Hotel in Secunderabad, the GHMC authorities have now identified nearly 500 dilapidated buildings in the twin cities. Teams inspected buildings that were 50 years old, made up of lime and mud and with only load bearing walls for support. The owners were served notices and have to take up immediate structural stability repairs. On buildings having cell towers and huge hoardings, Mr. Krishna Babu said that random stability tests on such buildings will be taken up. “Usually such buildings have to submit stability certificates for every two years. However, instead of waiting for so long, we have decided to conduct random independent stability tests,” he added.

Areas around Hussainsagar will be equipped to meet crisis like sudden cloudbursts, says Commissioner.