HYDERABAD: Deliberately neglecting a heritage structure for decades, turning a blind eye to weather and human-induced damage done to it bit by bit and then declaring it ‘dilapidated’ appears to be the modus operandi adopted by the GHMC to clear the way for demolition of the Nampally Sarai.
The Standing Committee of the GHMC, which met on Thursday, passed a resolution to demolish the Tipu Khan Sarai, popularly known as ‘Nampally Sarai’. This is despite the fact that the Sarai was notified as a heritage building in 2006, with powers conferred under Regulation No 13(1) of the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority Zoning Regulations, 1981.
The GHMC tried to justify the demolition decision by presenting a proposal to build a new G+5 building for transit dorms for women travellers under the Centre’s ‘Safe City Project’. This proposed building will come up in the 1,900 square yard premises of the Sarai at an estimated cost of `11 crore. Quite naturally, the GHMC’s proposal has angered heritage activists.
“Despite the rebuke by the High Court in the Irrum Manzil Palace case, where the State government was ordered to honour the Regulation 13, they continue to target heritage structures. For how many buildings should people approach and waste the time of the court?” asked Sajjad Shahid, Co-Convener, INTACH, Telangana Chapter.
He said that when the highest authority in the government lacked respect for the city’s heritage, it’s no surprise that heritage structures are targeted for demolition on a regular basis.
Neglect leaves Nampally Sarai open for antisocial activities
The Nampally Sarai has been part of Hyderabad’s history for over a century — it was a ‘transit dorm’ during the Nizams’ rule, with over 100 spacious rooms, many of them with attached bathrooms. The Sarai offered free accommodation and food to travellers.
In undivided Andhra Pradesh, it was run as a guesthouse with low room tariff, till it was shut down when T Krishna Reddy was the Mayor of Hyderabad.
Due to non-maintenance, vegetation started growing from the walls, nourished by the water seeping into them after the drainage system got clogged. It soon turned into a den for where vagabonds drank, gambled and indulged in other socially unacceptable activities for decades.
This was despite the fact that the GHMC’s fogging and entomology unit of the Goshamahal division continued to operate from the rooms behind the original structure.
Construction debris, human waste, debris from the chipping of walls and ceilings and the waste generated from the wine shop being run in a rented premises of the structure owned by GHMC, all resulted in the heritage structure earning the ‘haunted bungalow’ tag locally.
“Periodic maintenance of the overhead drainage system, repair of roof seepage and clearing vegetation and if needed, removing and reinstalling the old pipelines would solve most of the problem. It wouldn’t cost a fortune to convert the building into a budget heritage hotel with much lower cost that the amount proposed to be spent for the transit dorms,” opined S Sajjan Singh, Engineer and Convener, Sikh Heritage Foundation Hyderabad Deccan.
It may be mentioned that Deccan Sarai, a similar guesthouse built by the Mughals near Ludhiana in Punjab, is an ASI protected site and has fairly been maintained.
It was the resting area for Mughals on their way to Deccan, via Burhanpur and Aurangabad.
Previously a guesthouse
The Nampally Sarai, in undivided Andhra Pradesh, was run as a guesthouse with low tariff, till it was shut down during the tenure of T Krishna Reddy, who was the Hyderabad Mayor at that time