Hyderabad, February 23: At least a 10-metre semi-circle area in one of the minarets of the 420-year-old Charminar needs immediate repairs.
The heavy rains in August last year had resulted in chunks of the ornamentation on the monument falling off. ASI officials then had described the damage as small. However, with a detailed inspection having been undertaken, and with cracks having formed in the plastering of the heritage monument, ASI officials have now begun scaffolding work near the minar towards the Unani hospital side.
The scaffolding is being erected up to a height of 22 feet from the second floor level.
Charminar conservation assistant A Rashid Khan told TOI that the exact ingredients that were used in the plastering of the Charminar when it was originally built would be used in carrying out the repair work.
For preparing the mortar, limestone, jaggery, egg white, galnut water and jute pieces would be needed. Officials said lumps of limestone would be obtained from Piduguralla in Guntur district.
It would take three to four days to mix the material in the right proportion and make a paste.
What is equally important is getting the right technical experts to carry out the job.
“Artisans well versed with the job are available in Tamil Nadu. Some of them also work on temples in the city. We will requisition their services so that the repair work can be taken up perfectly,” Rashid Khan said.
The artisans would be required to get back the same style of ornamentation on the portion of the minaret that would be repaired in the coming days.
It has been almost six months since the minaret suffered the damage on account of the heavy rains in the city in August last year. Subsequently, the ASI had also requisitioned the services of JNTU to study the problem to the monument and all the minaret.
The repair work to the damaged portion is anyway being taken up now without having to do anything with the report that is awaited.
ASI officials would be required to take utmost precaution when carrying out the repairs as just under the damaged minaret is a temple which is visited by scores of devotees everyday. “We have thought about how to go about it,” an official said.
-Agencies