Hyderabad: City heritage buffs see red over green tiles on Qutb Shahi Tombs

Hyderabad: In what is described as the obvious case of ‘experimenting’ with the ancient monuments that is being carried on for over a decade now, the ongoing works at QuliQutb Shah Tombs are raising several questions. The same structures which were designated to have ‘restored’ within a short period of time are now facing the latest ‘trial with the tiles’.

With key structures within the necropolis like Sultan Muhammad Qutb Shah’s Tomb’s dome getting the glaze tiles, the heritage enthusiasts have raised the alarm that the latest activity was further damaging the centuries-old structures, which had withstood changing weather conditions for almost half a millennia. It is being pointed out that this is not only against the High Court and Wakf Tribunal orders, but also against the Ancient Monuments and Archeological sites and Remains Act, 1958.

One of the local heritage enthusiasts, MohdHabeebuddin, who keeps tabs on such developments, said that he was bemused after he saw one of the important domes housing the grave of Sultan Muhammad Qutb Shah being slowly transformed into green in the recent days. “At first they had applied plaster and restored. Now they are fixing green tiles after damaging the existing centuries-old layer, which had protected the top side of the Tomb. This is no more a restoration, but damage to the original structure and even the details like stucco work is not being spared. If this is repair work, what happened to the earlier claims of restoration? It appears they have come up with an idea to cover up the earlier botched works,” felt Habeeb.

Ever since the works were undertaken by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) more than a decade back, the issue remained prickly. Given the nature of the property to be Wakf, the High Court has earlier prohibited altering the monuments citing the agreements between Nizam VIII (Barkat Ali Khan as it’s Muthawali) and the State government and also under provisions of the Act. Earlier, following the then State Government’s MoU over the works at the monuments,even the Wakf Tribunal under Unified AP in its order has restrained the agency from changing the nature of the property by doing any construction, installing heavy machinery, etc.

Habeeb alleged that arbitrariness exists in restoration and conservation of Qutbshahi Tombs and other ancient monuments, which are being used by private agencies as ‘personal experience and experimental establishments’. “Restoration work is being done in contravention of the Monuments Act, 1958. Many restored monuments are being repaired again. During the illegal installation of artificial tiles on a dome, much of the monument's ornaments were deep peeled off,” he added.

Meanwhile, the petitioners who are pursuing the matter in Courts have pointed out that the ongoing works are being continued without proper permission from the Court and ‘subject to subjudice’. “The agency has not disclosed under whose instructions the glaze tiles were fixed, which is against the Monuments Act. Many monuments are being claimed to be restored illegally, to avoid controversies and objections by denizens of Hyderabad. Can you imagine red brick pieces being used as part of it and substandard material being used as against the required material under the prescribed norms,” asked one of the petitioners.

When The Hans India contacted Ratish Nanda, the CEO of AKTC,he refuted that the ongoing works were against any Court orders.He said that those who are making allegations are trying their best to stop the conservation efforts. “They are making wild allegations everyday for the past 15 years, making threats, filing litigations – only to encroach this valuable land and seek extortion money. Yet, we have prevailed and have been able to complete a project we committed to 15 years ago,” he said.