Hyderabad, September 22: Cut back to August 16 when three persons died in a building collapse at Poosala Basti in Saidabad. A few days later, another building collapsed at Phoolbagh in Chandrayangutta where three children died.
It seems that authorities are waiting for yet another disaster to happen. And next in line of danger is the Moulana Azad Memorial Government Model Junior college (MAMGMJC), Nampally where 1500 students are studying.
Fear of an impending collapse has made college authorities write a series of letters to the Hyderabad collector Natarajan Gulzar and authorities of the Board of Intermediate (BOI) education for immediate repair works. But their pleas have fallen on deaf ears since neither district officials nor BOI authorities have responded. This exclusive campus for girl students, includes a school, an intermediate college and a degree college. According to officials, in August, a wall of an old building located in the same campus collapsed. The condition of other buildings in the campus, including the college is such that whenever it rains, water leaks into classrooms. Also, pieces of slabs keep falling down posing danger to lives of the students.
When the collector visited after the wall collapse, college authorities brought to his notice the threat looming large for the college building. But reportedly, sources said Natarajan Gulzar informed he can do precious little to address the issue.
“I could have initiated repair works in the building had it been a school, since funds for the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan are at my disposal. But this being an intermediate college, there is nothing I can do much,” the collector is said to have told officials.
“The structure of the college is extremely week. We fear the building might collapse anytime. We alerted our higher ups but till now there has been no response. A lot of paper work which includes estimation for the works have to be done before the repairs can be undertaken,’’ a college official told Express requesting anonymity.
–Agencies