Hyderabad: The residential and commercial areas of the city have turned into tinderboxes, most of the buildings deviating from the sanctioned plan. One of the major flaws is the presence of illegal structures in the cellars.

More than 50% of the buildings under the jurisdiction of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) deviate from the sanctioned construction plan. Due to these deviations, no provision is made for fire tenders and firemen face difficulties during rescue operations.

Offenders include reputed hospitals, popular hotels, educational institutions and pubs, among others. While hospitals set up X-ray machines, laboratories, medical stores and billing counters in cellars, hotels set up restaurants and kitchens.

Some of these hospitals are located in residential areas including Somajiguda, Banjara Hills, Malakpet and LB Nagar. Similarly, a popular eatery located at Kalasiguda operates a restaurant in a cellar. The situation is almost the same in schools, hostels, training centers and several malls in the city.

The situation is even worse in the city’s pubs, including popular ones. There are almost no fire exits and many pubs and rooftop bars have flammable materials such as foam and plywood.

According to safety regulations, in addition to fire extinguishers, commercial establishments should have a static tank, fire hose reel, sprinklers, etc. But many pubs and other commercial establishments lack these essential safety measures.

To date, the Telangana State Disaster Response & Fire Services (TGDRFS) department does not have a skylift that can reach beyond 18 floors in an emergency, even though construction of the city’s first 20-storey building began in 2007 in Manikonda.

“After the fire accident in the Swapnalok Complex, I have requested the government for a customized truck through which I can monitor the situation inside the fire-hit building by sending drones into it,” said a state government official.

“The customized truck was to have a control room with a communication network to coordinate with the police, GHMC, ambulance services and fire brigade, with officials from all these departments stationed in the vehicle. This customized truck could be deployed in all emergency situations. , but the project was delayed by the previous state government,” he added.

Death toll in fire accidents

Six youths were killed in the Swapnalok Complex fire accident as there was no access to the fire escape.

Three people were killed at the Deccan Knitwear Sports Accessories complex in Secunderabad as the building did not have enough space to allow firefighters to put out the fire.

Ten people died when a fire broke out at a residential building located at Bazaar Ghat in November 2023 due to chemicals stored in drums and the building had no fire safety measures.