Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation approved only two floors of the building that collapsed

HYDERABAD: The under-construction building near the BJP office in Kukatpally that collapsed on Saturday afternoon killing two persons, did not have permission for the third and fourth floors. The extra floors were being built unauthorisedly by the owner Patlori Padmaja. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is going to file a criminal case against the owner and site engineer of the building for their negligence while undertaking the construction work.

GHMC officials said that unauthorised additional two floors are contrary to the provisions of the GHMC Act and TSbPASS Act and bylaws made thereunder. Padmaja, who is the owner of the plot bearing H.No. 5-3-107/A, situated near BJP office road, Kukatpally obtained building permission for the construction of stilt plus two upper floors (Permit No. 3/ C24/04689/2021) dated March 25, 2021, but commenced the work late and constructed the third and fourth-floor slabs.

On Saturday, while casting of the RCC slab for the fourth floor with ready-mix concrete, the floor slab collapsed. Following this, the third-floor slab also collapsed due to which two labourers died. With the help of the Fire Department and DRF teams, the slab debris was being removed to retrieve the bodies of the two labourers.

The unauthorised floors had been detected and a show cause notice under GHMC Act and TS-bPASS Act was also issued to the owner of the building on January 3, 2023 (UCIMS vide no.9379) for laying the third-floor slab and raising columns for the fourth floor. The owner ignored the notice and commenced further construction.