12 workers killed as building caves in

February 5, 2010

Barely a week after the fire mishap at Park Health Care Hospital in Somajiguda, at least 12 workers were killed and four injured after a building under construction in Naryanguda caved in on Friday.

It was around 2 pm that passers-by at the Narayanguda crossroads heard a huge explosion. “I just finished my lunch and was relaxing when I hear a huge sound. I rushed out and saw this building next to Brilliant Grammar School cave in,� said Ravi, a GHMC gardener who takes care of the greenery under the Narayanguda flyover, told TOI.

Within minutes, the traffic all around came to a standstill and people rushed in to rescue those trapped inside the debris. Students from the nearby educational institutions were the first followed by the police, GHMC emergency services and the fire department. A woman and her small girl, who were walking by and got trapped in the debris, were rescued first and got away with minor bruises.

But most of the construction workers inside were not that lucky. Even as teams outside began to clear away the rubble, victims trapped inside were heard shouting for help. Anjaiah, whose sister Yadamma was trapped inside, said at least 20 workers along with their children were working at the construction site. Yadamma was later successfully rescued. The rescue teams brought out one woman around 2.45 pm and rushed her to Osmania General Hospital, but she was declared dead. All the workers rescued were rushed to Osmania and Gandhi Hospitals where 13 of them were pronounced dead. Hospital authorities identified three of the dead as Jagadish, 45, Sujatha, 40, and Hanumanthu, 40. Four of the dead victims were women.

According to GHMC sources, Jalaluddin is the owner of the building and Yadaiah the builder. The entire building is said to be unauthorised. Jalaluddin is an employee of BHEL, Ramachandrapuram, and resident of Toli Chowki. “There is no sanction for the building construction. We will probe as to how it came up illegally,� said a GHMC official. In the meantime, Jalaluddin is absconding.

The mishap took place even as GHMC and fire department planned a joint initiative to check whether fire safety norms are in place in buildings in the city after the fire mishap at Park Hospital. “Illegal constructions in the city cannot take place without the connivance of corporation officials. Apart from the owner and the builder, conniving civic staff should also be punished,� said a government official.

GHMC suspends three officials
Even as the Narayanguda police registered a case of negligence under section 304 (A) of the IPC against the construction site owner Jalaluddin and builder Yadaiah, the GHMC suspended three town planning officials for not stopping the unauthorised construction. The three officials are assistant city planner of circle 9 S Sadanandam, section officer E Surender Reddy and munshi Meer Farooq Ali. GHMC commissioner Sameer Sharma has also ordered an inquiry on the building collapse. toi