HYDERABAD: Blasting of rocks to lay the foundation for a building left three persons injured and eight houses damaged at Brahmanwadi in Begumpet on Friday.

Angered over the destruction, local people beat up the workers present at the construction site forcing them to flee the place. Shilpa, 8, and two women Basavamma and Yellamma, received minor injuries. They were treated as outpatients at a local private hospital.

Begumpet Inspector J. Subbirami Reddy said the builder Naveen illegally used gelatine sticks and detonators to remove the huge rocks. Eighteen unexploded gelatine sticks and some detonators were recovered from the spot.

Huge sound

"I was taking rest when suddenly the house shook with a huge sound around 3.30 p.m. Then something hit the bedroom wall sending shivers down my spine and broken bricks fell beside me," recalled Prabha. Fortunately, she was not injured. Her house was extensively damaged. So powerful was the blast that some splinters hit the compound wall built around the construction site making a huge hole on one side. Windscreens of two lorries parked at the site broke. Some fragments hit a flat on the third floor of an adjacent building.

Seven other houses with asbestos-sheet roofs were also damaged. A widow, Chilakamma, 45, was preparing tea in her single-room house when pieces of rocks fell on the roof. "Even as I tried to run out, the rocks and sand bags kept on the roof to keep the asbestos sheets stable fell beside me," she said recovering from the shock. For Chilakamma, who lost her husband a couple of years ago, the damage to the house was another blow. The news of the explosion came as yet another jolt to the Hyderabad police.

They hurried to the spot but felt a bit relieved on learning that none was seriously injured. Police said the builder did not take permission to blast the rocks and used banned explosives. "Both are offences. We have booked a criminal case against him but he is absconding," the Inspector said.

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