Tremors continue as families pack their belongings

Our house will collapse if there is another spell of rain, says one resident

The house continues to tremble periodically, as if it were in an area witnessing the aftermath of an earthquake rather than a quiet lane in Pulikeshinagar.

On Thursday, even as Syed Inayatulla, a dentist, and his family continued to pack their belongings, a portion of their house continued to sink. While it had sunk two inches on Thursday – when panicked residents living around a large site being constructed by Prestige Group saw cracks develop their walls – Mr. Inayatulla’s house sunk four more inches on Friday.

Situation worsening

“What were minute cracks yesterday have become major chasms today,” he said. “The house will collapse if there is another spell of rain. The mud underneath continues to sink,” said Mr. Inayatulla. The house was constructed 15 years ago. It is home to six members of his family and two tenants. “This is a big loss for us. We had constructed this house from our savings and now, we do not know what will happen to it,” he said.

Currently, the family only has a oral commitment from Prestige that the house will be reconstructed. No time frame has been specified. The displaced have been asked to find rented houses, the cost of which will be borne by the builder.

“We want the house to be rebuilt as it is, and in the meantime, we want the builder to find us a place that similar to our current house. It isn’t our fault that we have been forced out onto the street,” said Syed Nooruddin, an architecture consultant, whose family of seven was made to vacate on Thursday. Though Prestige had assured them that the house would be built, the family is getting a notarised agreement to ensure the rebuilding takes place within a legal framework.

Previous incident

This uncertainty had previously persisted amongst the residents of Queens Corner apartments, Queens Circle. On June 15, 2015, around 32 houses were evacuated after a mud wall collapsed in the complex. A builder constructing an apartment in the adjacent plot was blamed. Residents said the builder paid for their temporary lodging for the ten days it took to repair the damage.