Five-storey under-construction building caves in at Telangana’s Bhadrachalam, two feared trapped
The building under construction near Bhadrachalam Panchayat Office collapsed as the workers were busy in construction works
Kothagudem: An under-construction ground plus five-storey structure caved in and two persons were feared trapped in the debris in Bhadrachalam town here on Wednesday.
It is said that six people were engaged in the work in the day and four of them went out for lunch when the incident took place in the afternoon. The owner of the structure, Shaik Moulana alias Sripathi, and his family, who reside on the ground floor, also went out for lunch at the time of the incident.
District Collector Jitesh V Patil, Superintendent of Police B Rohith Raju, Bhadrachalam Additional SP Vikrant Singh Kumar and the local station fire officer Srinivas Rao were monitoring the rescue operations. A couple of earthmovers and five cranes have been engaged in the rescue operations.
It is said that Moulana alias Sripathi of Bhadrachalam has been constructing five floors on the foundation of an old building for the last two years. The work was still ongoing at Super Bazaar Centre near the local gram panchayat office in the town.
The construction of the building was being carried out by collecting donations through the Sripathi Seva Trust. Despite the complaints from the locals that the old building was dilapidated, Sripathi was continuing the work and local authorities asked him to stop the works.
It might be noted that an individual Punem Pradeep Kumar of Human Rights Conservation Council of India lodged a complaint to the district panchayat officer in July 2024 against illegal construction of the building.
He said 30 years ago a six-room house was constructed and it was converted into a temple. Later, Moulana alias Sripathi started constructing the building on the foundations of the old house without any permission from the gram panchayat.
Pradeep Kumar feared that constructing a five-storey building on the foundation of the old building could lead to collapsing of the building and loss of human life.
As per the agency laws, construction of multi-storey buildings is prohibited in agency areas, but Sripathi violated the laws, he alleged in his complaint while appealing to the authorities to demolish the structure.
No bodies were recovered until the last reports came in and rescue operations were under way. Sripathi and his family are absconding.
