Band-aid needed for Charminar

The area near the monument has become a happy dumping ground for tourists

HYDERABAD: It’s breathtaking, majestic and historic but the 400-year-old Charminar, the iconic symbol of Hyderabad, is slowly becoming a victim of errant tourists and street vendors.

Cement plasters are peeling, the intricate granite work on the Minar corners are chipping off, and the graffiti on the walls by tourists have marred its once splendid visage. The area around it has become a dumping ground, littered with food packets and used water bottles. And the Charminar, built of granite, lime and mortar, is increasingly becoming darker due to air pollution. 

“The place around Charminar is so dirty. Instead of beautifying the adjacent areas, authorities are allowing businesses to flourish,” said SK Raju, a tourist from Orissa. Some tourists complain that government negligence and the greed of shopkeepers are degrading the architectural beauty.

“Everyone is busy making money, but no one bothers about Charminar. It is crying but no one listens to it,” said an IT professional Aftab Ahemad, also a resident of the city. Byomkesh, another tourist, said that although the area was highly sensitive and a bomb blast had occurred at the nearby Mecca Masjid, security arrangements were still not adequate.

“Police were least bothered about frisking visitors entering the Charminar boundary and the metal detector is not functioning,” he said, while walking over a metal detector to prove his point.

An Archaeological Survey of India official in New Delhi said: “The state office is taking care of the monument. People have a habit of blaming officials, but why are they defacing the walls? They display their love by writing on monument walls. Shouldn’t they be responsible as well?”

Emperor Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah built the over 150-foot-tall structure in 1591 soon after he shifted his capital from Golkonda to what is now known as Hyderabad.