New Delhi: The sudden and heavy rainfall in Hyderabad led to a portion of stucco work collapse in the city’s historic monument Charminar on Thursday. This prompted an immediate visit of officials from the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) to visit the site immediately.
The stucco piece, which collapsed, was located on the second level of one of the minarets. According to the ASI sources, there weren’t any injuries reported. The dismantled fallen portion was a decorative element on the top of the stone structure and it was inspected by a team of experts, including engineer professionals.
The incident did highlight concerns over the safety of the monument, which was built in 1591 by Sultan Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah.
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Mir Zulfiqar Ali, who is the current MLA from the Charminar constituency from the All India Majlis-e- Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) said the minaret, which was affected, won’t be under the threat, citing his interaction with the ASI officials, and the repairing will soon take place.
“It is fortunate that no one was below the minaret at that time… ASI officials have told me that the minaret is not under threat and that they will start repairs as soon as possible,” Mir told The Indian Express.
“Heritage conservation activists like myself and others have been raising concerns about the protection of Charminar,” he added.
The current portion was dislodged from the northeast minaret whereas in May 2019, a portion had fell from the southwest minaret. On both instances the falling happened because of heavy rains.
On Thursday, Hyderabad witnessed heavy rain lashes across the city with Kukatpally recording the most amount of it with 27mm of rainfall. Very strong thunderstorms hit the city with many areas were kept on yellow and orange alerts by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The rains are likely to occur across Telangana until Sunday.
(With inputs from PTI)
