World heritage day: Monuments crying for attention

Even as the World Heritage Day is being celebrated today, the monuments in and around the city are crying for attention. The few monuments that the State Department of Archaeology and Museums decided to take up for restoration have been left mid-way or work has come to a standstill for release of funds.

If the work on Paigah Tombs is moving slowly, the state of affairs at the Badshahi Ashoorkhana near Madina in the old city is even worse. Work has come to a complete halt. Mir Murtuza Ali Moosvi, caretaker of the Ashoorkhana says, “It has been six months since work stopped. Rs 70 lakhs was released in the 13th Finance Commission but there is a lot of work left. According to rough estimates there is a requirement of Rs 2.5 crore. Work under the previous financial year has not been completed.”

Even the Charminar which is under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is in sorry state. Work on the minarets started last November but till date only a part of one minaret has been completed. V Gopala Rao, in-charge, ASI’s Charminar Circle says, “Conservation work on the North-East minar from top to the masjid area has been completed and is now ready for chemical treatment.” When asked why the work is moving at such slow pace, he said that the lack of funds and space on top for workers to maneuver is hampering progress.

Twice workers left mid-way as it was becoming difficult to work on the scaffolding but it is the release of funds by ASI that is even more worrisome say heritage activists. Sajjad Shahid, heritage activist said, “The restoration work on the Qutub Shahi Tombs is also being done by the Aga Khan Foundation. There are few monuments that are taken up for conservation and even those are not completed on time.”

While heritage structures keep crumbling or come under the bulldozer with the approval of the state government as was the case in the old police quarters at Chellapura last week where archaeologists were denied entry, the celebration of World Heritage Day is reduced to an annual event.