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Will raze Charminar
A political war seems to be brewing over the government’s decision to demolish heritage structures in the city. A statement made by Deputy Chief Minister of Telangana Mehmood Ali that spending Rs 100 crore on the maintenance of ancient structures or turning them into a museum would be a futile exercise. Adding fuel to the fire, he said if Charminar becomes weak, it too would be demolished.
Deputy CM Ali: If it becomes weak...
War over demolition of heritage structures
Hyderabad: A political war seems to be brewing over the government’s decision to demolish heritage structures in the city. A statement made by Deputy Chief Minister of Telangana Mehmood Ali that spending Rs 100 crore on the maintenance of ancient structures or turning them into a museum would be a futile exercise. Adding fuel to the fire, he said if Charminar becomes weak, it too would be demolished.
In an interview to ANI, the Deputy Chief Minister said an expenditure of Rs 100 crore would get a warranty of 8-10 years for the Osmania General Hospital. “Instead of spending Rs 100 crore from the taxpayers' money and demolishing it 10 years later, we are turning it into a good hospital now,” Ali said.
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Reacting to this, Congress MP V Hanumanth Rao and other leaders demanded Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to clarify the government’s stand on the heritage structures in the state. Speaking to media persons on the Assembly premises, VHR criticised Mehmood Ali saying that nothing could be worse than demolishing a heritage structure. He asked KCR to explain whether he was planning to demolish all the heritage buildings in the city to erase memories of the erstwhile Hyderabad State and Nizam.
“Charminar, Osmania General Hospital and Osmania University are the identities of Hyderabad across the world. These structures need to be preserved for the future generation. But, one after the other, the Chief Minister is targeting all of them,” he alleged. VHR pointed out that several heritage sites across the country like Qutub Minar were being preserved by spending crores of rupees.
If one goes by KCR's ideology, then all these structures should be demolished and replaced with new ones. The Congress leader warned the TRS government of mass agitation if it tries to damage any heritage building in the city, including the the Osmania General Hospital. By proposing to demolish the heritage buildings, KCR is trying to reduce their historical importance, he alleged. He said that if such buildings need repair work, then they should be taken up immediately but should not be demolished.
Demanding the government to take back its decision to demolish the Osmania General Hospital, VHR said such buildings should be preserved for the future generations. “There is about 8 acres of land available in the hospital premises, build a new hospital there and repair the heritage structure,” he said.
A group of leaders led by the working president Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka visited the Osmania General Hospital on Saturday. They examined the hospital premises, the structure and discussed the issue with the hospital superintended for about half an hour.Bhatti said the government’s unilateral action would cost the city its ‘brand image’.
He said when KCR could get the entire alignment of Metro Rail to protect the Assembly building which is not in the list of heritage structures why he is not ready to protect a historical and heritage structure like the Osmania Hospital. He said this was not the only heritage structure which KCR wants to demolish.
Earlier he made similar moves to demolish the chest hospital also, said Danam Nagender, president of the Greater Hyderabad Congress. The TPCC leaders said that they would go on a hunger strike if the government goes with its plan to demolish the Osmania General Hospital.
