Hyderabad: Deviations convert buildings into risky places

Hyderabad: The residential and commercial areas in the city have turned into tinderboxes, with most buildings deviating from the sanctioned plan. One of the major flaws is the presence of illegal structures in cellars.

Over 50 per cent of buildings within the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) jurisdiction deviate from the sanctioned building plan. Due to these deviations, no provision for fire tenders is made, and firefighters face difficulties during rescue operations.

The offenders include reputed hospitals, popular hotels, educational institutions, and pubs, among others. While hospitals have set up X-ray machines, labs, medical stores, and billing counters in cellars, hotels have established restaurants and kitchens.

Some of these hospitals are located in residential areas, including Somajiguda, Banjara Hills, Malakpet, and LB Nagar. Similarly, a popular eatery located at Kalasiguda operates a restaurant in a cellar. The condition is much the same in schools, hostels, coaching centres, and several city malls.

The situation is even worse in city pubs, including the popular ones. There are hardly any fire exits, and several rooftop pubs and bars have flammable materials, such as foam and plywood.

According to safety norms, in addition to fire extinguishers, commercial establishments should have a static tank, fire hose reel, sprinklers, etc. But many pubs and other commercial establishments lack these essential safety measures.

To date, the Telangana State Disaster Response & Fire Services (TGDRFS) department does not have a skylift that can reach beyond 18 floors in case of an emergency, even though the construction of the first 20-floor building in the city began in 2007 in Manikonda.

"After the fire mishap in Swapnalok Complex, I requested the government for a customised truck through which I could monitor the situation inside the fire-hit building by sending drones into it," said an official from the state government.

"The customised truck was supposed to have a control room with a communication network to coordinate with police, GHMC, ambulance services, and fire services, with officials from all these departments stationed in the vehicle. This customised truck could be deployed during all emergency situations, but the project was postponed by the previous state government," he added.

Death toll in fire mishaps

Six youngsters were killed in the Swapnalok Complex fire mishap as there was no access to the fire exit staircase.

Three people were killed at the Deccan Knitwear Sports Accessories complex in Secunderabad as the building did not have ample space to allow firefighters to douse the fire.

Ten people died when fire broke out at a residential building located at Bazaar Ghat in November 2023 due to chemicals stored in drums and the building had no fire safety measures.