Archeology, Health Museums in a state of decay

Hyderabad: Bagh-e-Aam (Garden for the commoners), popularly known as Public Gardens,the oldest park in the city at Lakdi-ka-Pul, has several attractions in its surroundings including the Telangana Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council buildings. However, there are two prominent places of interest-The State Archeology Museum, the oldest museum in the city which hosts an Egyptian mummy dating 2500 BC and the seven-decadal old Health Museum, both of which have lost their glorious days and are now lying in ruins with barely any visitors to clock.

The State Archeology Museum, also known as Dr. Y S Rajasekhara Reddy State Museum, was built by the Nizam's in 1920's on an ancient site where Scottish archaeologist Henry Cousens excavated artefacts. The museum's architecture reflects the Indo-Islamic style with domes and high arches and hosts a plethora of collections including Hindu and Buddhist sculptures and paintings.

A sigh of disapproval is guaranteed when one gazes over the building's exterior where the white walls have turned black and the paint has started to peel and chip apart. Meanwhile, few interior galleries have been renovated, however, a closer look reveals that the woodwork has started to rot and many exhibits do not have proper lighting. Many galleries have been shut for visitors as chunks of ceiling have been falling down.

In the Bramhanical gallery lies antiquated stone-carved scupltures, some of which have been haphazardly placed while others have collapsed. In the painting gallery, several paintings have been damaged by visitors and to protect the paintings, plastic films or sheets are wrapped around them instead of glass panes. In this dilapidated structure, it is only the mummy of princess Naishu finding peace in her glass-laid coffin.

An official at the museum said that the museum barely gets any funds from the government and despite having dedicated wings for engineering and conservation, works to facelift the museum are never taken up. A senior official from the State Heritage Department said that the department has got no director and it is the secretary who acts as one.

On the western end of Public Garden lies a unique but unheard, Health Museum,built in 1940's, with a goal to make people aware of the biological functioning and diseases. This museum boasts exhibits, charts, human and animal specimens, all of which have been either damaged, destroyed or decayed.

The museum's exterior, coated with sandstone-colored paint laid with a golden coloured emblem of the Nizams, is a decoy meant to fool one's eye, as the moment one enters the building, all they see is the museum in a ramshackled state.

Specimens of human organs, cancerous tumours, snakes preserved in shanty, unsealed glass and plastic jars have all decayed. Ironically, a sign board quotes that "prevention is cheaper (and healthier) than cure", which is true in the case of this museum, which has lost all its health in the course of a disease named neglect.

This place was once a unique hub for commoners to visually learn aspects related to diseases, its prevention and awareness amongst others, and was hailed by prominent individuals including Jawaharlal Nehru who wished "that other cities had something like this" and former President Dr. Rajendra Prasad, who had called this museum as an "instructive institution" and was glad that "large numbers of people visit it and profit from it", sadly his words have lost its essence as this glorious museum barely has anything healthy enough to look at.

A staff member working in the museum complained of lack of funds, stating that they themselves had to pool up the money for buying cleaning supplies like brooms and mops and pointed at the heavy-rusty chandelier hanging at the ceiling where patches of plaster that have been falling.