Monumental neglect of a majestic mansion

Malakpet: Mahbub Mansion in Malakpet was once looked upon with pride, but today neither the Department of Archaeology nor the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has a plan for the restoration of the 116-year-old mansion, built in Indo-European style architecture. The residents who live adjacent to the mansion have been complaining about the apathetic attitude of the departments for some time. 

R Balakrishna, Hyderabad council member of CPI who stays in one of the houses built under government scheme opposite the mansion, said, “Telugu film actor Narsing Yadav visited the mansion last week and said that it was impossible to get a permission to shoot at the mansion, as none of the departments is ready to take responsibility for its upkeep.” 

P Anuradha Reddy, convenor at Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) Hyderabad Chapter, said, “The archaeology department should declare it as a protected monument and take it under its wings.”  When asked, GHMC Zonal Commissioner (South) Srinivas Rao, who is also overseeing the Charminar Pedestrian Project (CPP) said, “There is no separate fund for heritage conservation. The majority of the funds of the GHMC go for the widening of the roads, Strategic Road Development Project (SRDP) and other civic issues.” 

What was once spread across 42 acres is now in the middle of housing complexes. Based on the complaints of the locals, the GHMC fenced the area four years ago. Nasheeda Begum, a resident, said, “People no longer enter the mansion, but during the rainy season pieces of the mansion crumble.” 

Today, one can see wooden beams jutting out, a fully-grown neem tree springs from the building, resulting in huge cracks in the foundation and all the doors and windows have also disappeared.  The legend has it that Mahboob Mansion was an occasional home for the sixth Nizam Mahbub Ali Khan and his Begum Sardar Begum who loved watching horse racing at the Malakpet Race Course through curtains made out of gold threads. Rihana, who stays opposite to the mansion, said, “Isn’t it ironical that all the windows that were adorned with gold threads are now bare and that there is no interest to bring back the glorious days.”

  -Asna Khundmiri