From hazard to horror: Hyderabad’s building violations turn deadly

Hyderabad: It’s no longer a question of if – just when. Hyderabad’s pattern of one disaster following another, from fires to collapses, has shown no signs of breaking. Yet government departments stay unmoved. So do most citizens.

Even as lives are lost in batches, blatant construction violations go unchecked. Safety norms, put in place to prevent such outcomes, are either ignored or deliberately bypassed. And the silence from officials has been deafening.

Sunday’s Gulzar Houz fire underlined the risk. A G+2 house built on just 77 square yards, with no adherence to load capacity or ventilation norms, had 14 air-conditioners stuffed into it. The fire, which consumed three generations of one family, started from the overloaded electricals.

Such tragedies aren’t isolated. Safety norms require builders to get prior permission from municipal authorities. That means submitting a building plan with area, floors, and layout details. On plots under 50 sq yards, only one floor is allowed.

But in Siddiqnagar, Madhapur, a four-storey building with a penthouse rose illegally on a tiny plot. Despite complaints from neighbours, no action. It took the adjacent construction foundation work to shake the illegal structure and expose the fraud. GHMC rushed in, evacuated 50 residents and pulled the structure down. Too late – but barely in time.

Every year, GHMC issues around 12,000 building permits. More than half of them violate one rule or another. Commonly, builders ignore setback rules to maximise floor space – walls of adjacent buildings end up fused. If a fire breaks out, escape becomes impossible.

That’s exactly what happened in Sunday’s blaze. The building, nearly 120 years old, couldn’t handle the power load. Worn-out wiring, ignored upgrades, and careless installation of 14 AC units made it a tinderbox. The short circuit took 17 lives.

Back in March 2023, six employees suffocated to death in Secunderabad’s Swapnalok Complex. A short circuit sparked the fire on the fifth floor. Emergency staircases were packed with junk. No way out.

Hyderabad has many such cases. Each one shows a different violation. Each one exposes official apathy and citizen negligence. This “what can go wrong” attitude is proving fatal.