Days to go before the beginning of the centenary celebrations, the Osmania University officials have begun renovating the reflective pool in front of the iconic Arts College building.
“The water was seeping out and we could not operate the fountains which is why we have taken up the work and we have been promised that the work will be over in a fortnight, well in time before the centenary celebrations,” said an official. April 26 will mark the 100 years of Nizam Osman Ali Khan issuing a firman (proclamation) setting up the Urdu university named after himself.
Workers used pneumatic drills to break down the cement plastering inside the tank. “This will have to be cleaned and washed before plastering work begins. It will take more than one month to finish it and then it has to be cured before water can be let in,” said a construction worker on the spot.
Original design
The reflective pool is an addition made by an Hyderabad architect, Zainuddin Khan Yar Jung, who tweaked the original design of the Arts College building submitted by Belgian architect Ernest Jasper. Zainuddin Yar Jung was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1956 for his effort.
“No, we don’t remember the fountains working. This used to be full only during monsoon. Otherwise, only a small quantity of water used to be there and people used to throw rubbish here. We had a tough time cleaning it up,” said a maintenance worker of the university.
Inside the library building where the original drawings of Ernest Jasper are kept in the collection celebrating 75 years of the varsity as ‘Vision of Osmania’, the drawings show just the steps without the setback which, is the normal practice.
In other parts of the university as well, long-delayed maintenance work is being carried out to make the varsity look good.
The library building, which had a small fountain on the right side of the entrance, has got a new plastering, but even the staffers didn’t know the purpose of the semi-circular space embedded in the wall.
