The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is taking no chances ahead of the monsoon in the city as it is undertaking a massive drive to demolish old and dilapidated structures in the city.
On Monday alone, the GHMC demolished 47 structures, which included 15 in the Kukatpally Zone besides 12 in the Khairatabad Zone and 8 structures in the Secunderabad Zone.
While 6 structures were demolished in the Serlingampally Zone, three structures were also pulled down in the Charminar Zone and LB Nagar Zone each.
This came after orders from Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) Minister KT Rama Rao issued instructions to senior officials on June 12, during a review meeting.
"An action plan was prepared to identify most dangerous structures in each circle of GHMC and a proposal was submitted for demolition through a special drive," the GHMC said in a press release.
The municipal body stated that according to a survey this year, 1194 buildings had been identified, out of which 413 buildings had already been demolished.
"The special drive for demolition of dilapidated structures will continue till the balance 734 structures are demolished or repaired by the occupants," the GHMC said.
The municipal body added that it was also taking up other activities as part of monsoon preparedness activities, like obtaining opinion on structural safety from Engineering Department, counseling the inmates to vacate the dilapidated structure from a human safety point of view and barricading buildings in some cases and cautioning public against moving around the structure.
Stating that it has deployed teams ready to tackle waterlogging, inundation and other problems that low lying areas could face this monsoon, the GHMC also said that several enforcement drives were conducted to remove encroachments on drains.
The GHMC has also deployed teams with all necessary equipment for road repairs and for dewatering low lying areas with pump sets if there is waterlogging.