Two people were killed and several others injured after a seven-storey building under construction collapsed in Hyderabad's Madhapur on Saturday, triggering a major rescue operation in Anjaiah Nagar.
The structure collapsed around 1 pm, with debris falling onto neighbouring buildings. The victims were identified as Mahtab and Umesh, both from Madhya Pradesh, who were reportedly engaged in laying tiles at the construction site.
Rescue Operations Underway
Soon after the collapse, teams from the local police, HYDRAA, Fire Department and Cyberabad Municipal Corporation rushed to the site. Senior officials supervised the rescue operation as personnel searched the debris for people who may have been trapped.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Fire Department and other rescue agencies were also deployed. Personnel used rescue equipment to enter the collapsed structure and continued searching for survivors.
A police official told news agency ANI, “An under-construction seven-storey building collapsed in Anjaiah Nagar. So far, two people have lost their lives. Rescue teams have reached the spot, clearing of debris is underway, and the rescue operation is in progress. We will provide more details later.”
Building Allegedly Constructed In Violation Of Norms
The seven-storey structure was reportedly built on a 50 square yard site and on a nala drain box, in violation of norms.
Congress MLA Arekapudi Gandhi alleged that the building did not have proper clearances and had already been under scrutiny.
“In Madhapur division, the illegal seven-storey under-construction building was stopped by officials for four months. They recently restarted the construction work illegally. The cellar work was being extended to the adjacent building connected to the seven-storey structure, which led to its sudden collapse,” Gandhi told ANI.
He added, “People must understand the risks of illegal constructions. Some people are profiting through such illegal constructions. Many such illegal constructions are going on in Serilingampally. We are seizing buildings, but they are not following the norms. A similar incident had happened earlier, and now it has happened again.”
According to information available, a builder named Sajid was constructing similar illegal buildings on small patches of land, and officials said action would be initiated against him.
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Officials Review Rescue Operation
Cyberabad Municipal Corporation Commissioner G Srijana and HYDRAA Commissioner AV Ranganath reached the spot and reviewed the rescue operation.
Ranganath later told the media that two bodies had been retrieved from the debris and that rescue teams were continuing to search the site.
“An inspection will be carried out with the coordination of CMC officials on these constructions and action will be initiated against the owners, if found violations,” he said.
Residents Allege Complaints Were Ignored
Nearby residents alleged that the building had been constructed illegally despite several complaints to municipal authorities.
“We had complained to the local authorities about the construction, but no action was taken,” said Rajesh, a resident.
Another resident, Sanjay Kumar, said the consequences could have been worse had the collapse occurred in the evening.
“Children usually play around the building and, being a Saturday, there could have been many more children in the area,” he said.
Residents also questioned how such a large structure was allowed to come up on a small plot located on the nala.
Residents of the neighbouring Jayadarshini Residency said they heard a loud sound following the collapse and initially thought it was an earthquake. People living in surrounding buildings rushed onto the streets in panic.
Rescue operations remain underway.