Stone railing on historic bridge makes way for drainage channel

A large chunk of the stone railing on the bridge connecting the Moti Darwaza of the Golconda Fort to MD Lines has been brought down by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation officials to create a drainage channel. “The wall was intact while I was going to Mehdipatnam in the afternoon, but by the time I returned in the night there was an earthmover inside the moat and the wall was damaged,” says Mohammad Arif, a student who lives inside the Golconda Fort. The earth mover is no longer at the site but large chunks of the 500-year-old fort have been damaged.

“Cleaning of drain work and removal of garbage from drain (nala) is in progress,” was the response of GHMC when asked by Archaeological Survey of India officials. “We got the earth mover removed from the site. Our officials have inspected the site and have made an assessment of the damage,” said Milan Kumar Chauley, Superintending Archaeologist of ASI when asked about the damage.

The ASI, which comes under the Ministry of Culture, has been placed under Category C by the Union Ministry of Finance for tightened budgetary spending due to COVID-19 pandemic. This limits the expenditure by the ASI to 15% of the financial year 2021 budgetary outlay limiting scope for carrying out major work on any of the ASI sites.

The Moti Darwaza is surrounded by densely populated residential area and has suffered much damage over the past few years. One of its huge wooden doors became unhinged a few years ago. Last year, a stone structure attached to the gateway collapsed after a spell of rain. But the main threat to the fort stems from the fact that the water bodies that once surrounded the fort have been filled up with earthen works. The natural drainage system where the water from the Shah Hatim Talab would flow into the Naya Qila and then onwards to Langar Houz Cheruvu has been damaged.

The carrying capacity of Shah Hatim Talab has declined drastically after parts of it were filled up for laying roads. Illegal colonies have popped up on the edges of the lake and more areas of the lake are being filled up on the western side.