About 60 to 70 persons, along with their children and belongings, were thrown onto the roads on Thursday, when the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) officials decided to pull down the rickety building they were staying in at Punjagutta, on short notice of a few hours.
All migrant labourers, they had to spend the intervening night on roads braving the elements and depending on charity of neighbours for food.
A wall of the building crumbled on Wednesday, the day of the deluge which left seven persons dead under collapsed structures. According to the building owners, GHMC officials came looking for dilapidated structures and served on-the-spot notices on Thursday for demolition of the single-storeyed building.
‘Pleaded for time’“We pleaded with them for a day’s time so that the tenants could vacate, but they refused. Within a couple of hours, they arrived and demolished the building,” said Jitender Mohan Singh, a relative of the property owner.
The building had 10 rooms, housing two or three families in each, he said. Soon after demolition, it had begun to rain and the evictees were stranded as the GHMC officials washed their hands off the evictees responsibility.
“The local corporator visited and asked us to use one ramshackle room in the police station nearby. But when we began to shift our belongings, the police objected and threatened to book cases. We begged for a night’s time,” said M. Manemma, who still loitered around the demolished premises on Friday evening, along with her family.
The families had to spend the night outside, eating food provided by neighbours, before scampering to find new abodes at daybreak.
“I roamed all around, but could not find a place. I was not in town when the building was knocked down, but rushed back when my wife called me,” said K. Appala Naidu, a private security guard.
Owners claimed that the tenants were asked to vacate the premises last year after a wall collapsed. However, they took more tenants after the incident too, collecting Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 4,000 from each family.
Deputy Commissioner of GHMC N. Samrat Ashok claimed that notices were served two days ahead, while the date on the notices was September 1. He said they were making arrangements for shifting the evictees to shelter homes.
Jasvin Jairath, chief advisor of Basti Vikas Manch which brought the incident to light, said that Mr. Ashok, when confronted about the issue, asked the NGO to take care of the destitute families.
GHMC Commissioner B. Janardhan Reddy on Friday said that in the last three days alone, as many as 55 dilapidated buildings have been demolished.
Notices have been issued to 800 other structures and they were also pasted on the walls urging the residents or owners to vacate. In the current monsoon season, 285 old buildings were demolished, he said.
Buildings identifiedThe GHMC has also identified around 1,997 buildings which are in dilapidated conditions, of which around 940 buildings have been demolished so far.
Nearly 95 buildings have been demolished by the owners themselves. There are around 150 pending court cases with regard to these buildings.
