The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : 24 families evacuated

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Saturday, Aug 05, 2006

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

24 families evacuated

Staff Reporter

The municipal quarters in IDH Colony are in dilapidated condition posing a grave risk to residents

RAIN-STRUCK: A portion of the building that collapsed at IDH Colony in Bhoiguda on Friday. PHOTO: P.V.Sivakumar

Hyderabad: Twenty-four families residing in the municipal quarters in IDH Colony at Bhoiguda were evacuated and provided shelter at a community hall and a school building in the colony after the balcony wall of a block collapsed in the incessant rain on Friday.

The district administration is making efforts to provide food to the evacuated families.

The colony has more than 300 quarters in 11 blocks, which were constructed some three decades ago. Families residing there have been asked to move out of the quarters, which are in a dilapidated condition.

Wall collapses

The heavily-soaked balcony wall of the fourth block collapsed at around 10 a.m. As most of the residents were out on work, there were no casualties. An old woman Balamma sustained minor injuries. "I was in the kitchen when the wall collapsed. My mother-in-law Balamma was standing near the balcony when it collapsed," Vanitha, who resides on second floor, recalled. As locals gathered, someone called the municipal authorities. Fire-tenders rushed to the place. Hyderabad Collector R.V. Chandravadan, who visited the area, asked officials to provide food to evacuated families.

`Time to vacate'

Former MLA and Telugu Yuvata president Talasani Srinivas Yadav visited the place. Local corporator Rajini Devi said that she had been trying to convince the residents to vacate the blocks so that renovation work could be taken up. However, the residents were not in a mood to listen, she noted.

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