Hyderabad: Six commuters sustained injuries, and three bikes and a car were damaged, on the road near Hafeezpet railway station due to the collapse of a 10-foot compound wall of the Lingampally reservoir on Wednesday night.
The victims, all of whom were daily wage workers who were on their way home, were rushed to a nearby hospital where they were treated and declared to be out of danger.
The police has booked a case against the contractor who recently repaired the wall and served a notice on the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) which is responsible for its maintenance.
The road on which the reservoir stands road connects Hafeezpet and its surrounding areas to Hitec City. Since most of the other roads experience heavy traffic, labourers and other employees use this road as a shortcut.
On Wednesday night, the victims were walking beside the wall when it collapsed on them. They were stuck under the debris for a few minutes.
“This is the path we usually take to work and back. We used the same road in the morning, and the wall collapsed at night,” said one of the victims.
G. Rajireddy, a biker, said that he passed by the spot a few minutes after the wall collapsed.
“It could have happened due to the leakage of water through the walls. I escaped by a few minutes,” he said.
The police have registered a case of negligence against the contractor who recently carried out repair work on the wall.
Miyapur sub-inspector B. Bhoopal Goud said, “A case has been registered against the contractor and a notice has been served on the HMWS&SB. We will proceed based on the information provided by them.”
The authorities of Srikar Hospital said that the victims had sustained minor injuries, for which they had been treated.
They were discharged on Thursday evening. The injured persons have been identified as D. Narsing (55) from Hafeezpet, Mudassar Ali (26) from Sanathnagar, Gnaneshwar Rao (60) from Moosapet, Siromani (48), Azeem (27), and Jahangir (32) from Old Hafeezpet.
Wall was over 5 decades old, says water board
Officials of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) say that the wall that collapsed was over five decades old. They say that the medical expenses of the victims have been paid by the board.
Meanwhile, proposals for the reconstruction of the compound wall have been submitted. The reservoir supplies water to Kukatpally, Jubilee Hills, Banjara Hills, Madhapur, Sanath Nagar, Erragadda and other parts of the city.
The Lingampally Reser-voir two nine-million gallon tanks and one five-million gallon tank within its campus. The campus is surrounded by a ten-foot tall compound wall which is around 450 meters long. During last year’s monsoon season, a portion of the compound wall collapsed, but it fell towards the inside of the compound. That portion of the wall was then repaired. “Proposals have already been sent for the reconstruction of the entire wall. We will put forward proposals once again to expedite the process,” a senior official of the board said.
Meanwhile, the board has ordered an inquiry into the incident. It has been found that the wall, has some cracks which is weakening the structure
