Doubts over quality of houses in R&R colony

Retaining wall of a staircase collapsed after a brief spell of rain on Sunday

The compound wall of a house that collapsed following a brief spell of rain in the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Colony at Mutrajpally in Siddipet district on Sunday.

Doubts are being expressed by oustees over the quality of houses constructed for them at the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Colony at Mutrajpally near Gajwel. Here the government has planned to relocate the oustees from some eight villages that would get submerged under Mallannasagar under the larger Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project.

On Sunday the compound wall of a house of in the colony collapsed following a spell of rain in the evening. The wall collapsed even as the residents were watching it, it was like watching a slow motion clip in a movie, said the people who were watching it from a distance. The residents of the ill-fated house rushed out in fear.

“We were allocated this — house number 281 of Pallepahad — and shifted here some two weeks ago. On Sunday, the compound wall along the stairs collapsed while our children were sleeping in the house. We are extremely lucky none of us got hurt. There are cracks even inside the house,” resident of the ill-fated house, Pushpalatha, said. “If the wall collapsed and other walls have developed cracks as a result of a brief spell of rain that too within two months of construction, we shudder to think what would happens during the rainy season,” she added.

In the past another project displaced person had complained that basement of their house had caved in leaving a gaping hole. The Mallannasagar project displaced persons recalled that the houses in Rehabilitation and Resettlement Colony at Tunkibollaram too had developed cracks during the rainy season.

“We are not sure what is there in the store for us during rainy season. If the wall collapsed and houses developed cracks during summer itself how long are these houses going to stand? Where can we go if something goes wrong? Who will be held responsible for the collapse of the wall?” asked another oustee, on condition of anonymity.

Some of the residents of the R&R Colony had pointed out that the houses were built on uneven terrain and within the full tank level of a nearby waterbody and after a heavy downpour water would enter many of the houses.