Hyderabad: Crores spent on restoration of Katora Houz, nil on upkeep

Hyderabad: For restoring historic Katora Houz in the vicinity of Golconda Fort, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) sanctioned Rs 3.5 crore. Separately Rs 1.5 crore was set apart by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in March last year. But, since no work, was taken up to regain its past glory, the water body remains a cesspool.

The 450-year-old Katora Houz is one of the heritage structures. It is the largest tank in the city which comes under the ASI. The GHMC has initiated the drive to clean Katora Houz, an asymmetrical, four-acre Qutub Shahi Pool. For the past four years, the corporation has been working to restore the tank's past glory. Its officials had taken up de-salting process of the pool twice and released crores only for cleaning the water body.

Adding to its apathy, the retaining boundary wall of Katora Houz collapsed in floods in October 2020. According to reports, for the restoration work the GHMC sanctioned Rs 3.5 crore, which includes drilling of four borewells, de-silting and cleaning of debris in the tank, illumination (lighting), construction of pathways, landscaping, area beautification and boating. Separately AIMIM had sought Rs 1.5 crore for construction of the Katora Houz boundary wall and was sanctioned by ASI. A heritage activist, Mohammed Habeebuddin, said over Rs 5 crore was sanctioned to retain its past glory, but the GHMC and the ASI had failed to restore the water body. "Nothing has been done on the ground. Still hyacinth is spread all over the Houz. It remains a cesspool. Even the boundary wall has not been constructed.

"In the last one year nothing has been done, where the funds were utilised by officials?" he questioned. He said it is the ASI's responsibility to preserve, renovate and maintain the tank. "The four-acre lake will soon be illegally grabbed. Some are parking their vehicles in front of it and dumping waste into it already," he lamented. Observers say sewage from nearby localities is discharged into the tank. With its boundary wall collapsed it is turning into a trash point with people dumping garbage and urinating nearby.

Katora Houz is a man-made lake constructed in 1560 during the reign of Ibrahim Qutb Shah (1550-80). It was filled with water from the Talab-e-Durg (now Durgam Cheruvu).