Hyderabad, February 08: The watchman sits ill at ease, an incense stick burning before him. Surrounded by the rubbish all around, he sure needs that pleasant aroma. A little away are seated two nurses with polio drops, but there is none to get their kids immunised.
“Who will bring their children here”, remarks a shopkeeper, his voice dropping confidentially.
Haunted or not the eerie look of the building is certainly a big deterrent. The ‘Shahi Khazana’ of the Nizam at Moti Galli near Charminar is in a state of disarray. Till a few years ago it functioned as the pension payment office. But now rusty doors, cobwebs and layers of dust greet one inside. Surely it has not been swept in for decades.
But on Sunday the entrance of the hoary edifice was marked by bleaching powder as a pulse polio immunisation booth was set up here. During elections the place also serves as polling station. “Normally no one is allowed here”, says the weary looking watchman.
Conservationists and heritage lovers will be shocked to see the slow deterioration of what used to be an elegant structure. The walls and what is left of the roof still bear the fine plaster work. A peep through the broken doors shows the tables and chairs lying topsy-turvy amidst the debris. A strong room with a fire resistant door is what the round the clock security is trying to protect. Grapevine has it that it contains diamonds and jewellery. But none knows for sure.
Put the clock by half-a-century behind and one can visualise the oldies queuing up the counters here to get their pension. The huge backyard is a clutter of wild growth, fallen leaves and tree branches. Under the Charminar Pedestrianisation Project the authorities proposed to set up a parking lot here for the benefit of tourists. But like the ambitious project, the idea too refuses to take off.
–Agencies