Hyderabad: Civic body to fill cellar excavations

Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has decided to fill all newly constructed cellars until September to prevent loss of life and property during the monsoon.

After banning road cutting during the monsoon, the GHMC has decided to bar excavation of earth for cellars from June 25 to September 30 as a precautionary measure.

The corporation has already banned cellar excavation from June but this has not been observed in toto. The civic body has already instructed zonal commissioners to identify cellars for new buildings which have already got building permission. The civic body will first issue notices to the owners and later fill the cellars.

According to a GHMC official, the civic body has instructed ground level staff to remove old compound walls, take precautionary measures needed for sloped terrain, and shift those living in huts and temporary structures on the side of retaining walls to other areas.

A senior town planning wing official said that the corporation had accorded permission for about 30 cellar excavations from the past 25 days. Assistant city planners and other officials have been directed to visit all sites where cellars have been permitted earlier to ensure safety of the workers and neighbouring structures. He said that it would fill all cellar excavations which were dug and did not progress with the construction for at least six months. He also said that a cellar was already filled near the Venkatgiri HDFC bank ATM in Yousufguda and will inspect more to fill them.

The town planning official said that if cellar works are in the initial stages, officials have been instructed to stop them. At others, officials were directed to ensure that soil strengthening and structural stability of retaining walls was as per standards, he added.