GHMC asphyxiating qualification of engineers?

Hyderabad: Allegations are made against the GHMC that the organisation is suppressing the qualification of its engineers. It is alleged that many officers who are elevated in their position as the engineers have joined as technicians previously and do not have adequate qualification to get promoted to the rank of engineers. The civic body was asked to provide the information regarding the same in 2013 through an RTI enquiry.

It is however learnt that only the number of engineers was provided in response to the enquiry - and not their qualifications. Further to this occurrence, in December 2013, the RTI commission ordered GHMC to furnish all the details, but the full information has not been provided till date, added sources.

As a rule an engineer is subject to inspect the sites of construction before moving them for the approval. But, in actuality, only these alleged unqualified technicians who got elevated to the post of engineers have been doing this job, so far, reportedly.

In the recent past, many heritage buildings have been knocked down by the GHMC since the structural engineers certified them as weak, and the option of restoring them wasn’t considered. Several heritage buildings like Mount Heritage structure at Park Lane and Banjara Bhavan were certified as on its last legs even though they could be restored. There are many century plus buildings that are still standing strong, added sources.