Hyderabad: Golconda Fort walls under threat

Hyderabad: More walls of Golconda Fort may fall due to the recent heavy rains if the officials will not take precautionary actions to protect the fort walls.

Heavy rains in Hyderabad last week not only damaged the residential and commercial buildings of Hyderabad but it also brought down some portions of the fortification of the historical Golconda Fort, the Qutub Shahi quake-proof architecture which remained unrattled for five centuries.

On October 12, a portion of one of the miradors of a rampart of Naya Qila collapsed. Then again on October 16, another wall inside the fort, in front of the Sri Jagadambika Devi temple, also collapsed.

An official of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on condition of anonymity told that decades of neglect made the stone-mud wall too feeble to withstand the onslaught of heavy rains.

He further informed that they had sent their report to the headquarters in New Delhi and the authorities have advised them to begin the repair work. Meanwhile, heritage activists have also criticised the government and officials saying that their negligence was now taking a heavy toll on this magnificent monument of great historical importance.

They said the ASI was not taking interest in preserving the historical fort, which attracted the tourists from all over the world. They warned that if they continued neglecting the cracks that had developed in other parts of the fort, it would not take much time for the Qutub Shahi monument to be fully ruined.