Is the Telangana government planning to raze the historic ‘Charminar’?
If Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mahmood Ali’s remarks are anything to go by, the state government may do so in future if it feels that the building has become weak and could fall any time claiming lives of people.
Charminar is a sixteenth century monument located in old Hyderabad and a major landmark and tourist destination.
While defending the state government’s decision to raze the 90-year-old Osmania General Hospital (OGH) here and rebuild it, Ali said ‘Charminar’ will be razed to if it becomes dilapidated.
“We will make 10-15 storey hospital… and it will be able to cater to 10 times the number of patients it does now. It will have the same name (OGH)….,” Ali said on Sunday while defending the decision of his government to rebuild the hospital.
“When a building becomes weak, if Charminar becomes weak, in 200 years, 400 years or 500 years, it will have to be razed too. If a building becomes weak, it can fall any time and claim many lives,” Ali said in the same breath seeking to justify his government’s decision.
The Opposition in Telangana has opposed the state government’s move to reconstruct OGH and has vowed not to let the heritage structure be demolished.
Ali has, meanwhile, sought to defend his remarks on Charminar and said that he had only made a general reference to the heritage structure while arguing for rebuilding OGH which is in a dilapidated condition.
“Charminar is our ‘pehchan’ (identity). We will strive to strengthen it. I was speaking in a general sense that after 1,000 years (we have to think about it),” he said on Monday.