Hyderabad: Mecca Masjid repair works go at snail's pace in Charminar

Charminar: Following the change of guard at the then State Archaeology department, which is now called as 'Heritage Telangana', the repair and beautification works at the historic Mecca Masjid have come to standstill. The works were affected when the regular official has been replaced by an in-charge for the past one year. According to officials in the Minority Welfare Department, the State government and Minority department were very keen and had prioritised the repair and restoration of Mecca Masjid and also released the funds time to time. But following the transfer of N R Visalatchy, former director from State Archeological department, new officials whoever took charge remained in-charge position from then. "No official is keen on completion of works which were taken up. Hence the works remained pending. Some of the works were resumed after the higher authorities paid a visit in January", an official said to The Hans India.

He also said that the works of the main door were delayed due to the fund crunch, as funds meant for it were utilised for other works like Maqbara restoration and repairs. "The bills of ongoing works could not be raised as there is no full-time director for Heritage Telangana for approval. Hence works remain pending owing to funds flow," he added.

Besides delay due to technical issues, the officials engaged in the repair and restoration works are feeling the heat. During earlier phase the work faced only problems owing to expertise, but for the past one year the change of guard at Heritage Telangana pushed these works several months behind the schedule.

The restoration works of Mecca Masjid were started in the year 2017, following sanction of Rs 8.48 crore and should have been completed under the stipulated time of 18-months, and additional amount of Rs 1 crore were also sanctioned for constructing toilets. Till now around 4 crores were released and only half of the restoration works are completed for the main structure. Amongst other works which are going on in a slow pace are repair and restoration of the main gate and Maqbara which was started around 4 months back.

The latest inspection was conducted by the advisor to Government Minority Welfare, A K Khan, Minority Welfare Department Director Shahnawaz Qasim, and Charminar MLA Mumtaz Ahmed Khan in the month of January. Khan had assured that these works would be completed by next six months. He asserted that the works related to main gate would be completed at the earliest.