he notified heritage building of the IAS Officers’ Association club house in Somajiguda has been torn down. When this reporter visited the premises on Friday afternoon, the only thing left standing was the shell of the old club house, which is a notified building by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA).
The badminton courts, tennis court, and other facilities there were all razed, with only rocks, dust, wooden beams and window frames scattered around the place.
This, on a day when the High Court ordered the State government to maintain status quo on the building. Workers involved with the demolition said that it had begun about 15 days ago. M.A. Qayyum, former Assistant Director, State Department of Archaeology and Museums, said that the club house building was constructed sometime in 1925 during the reign of the last Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan.
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“Earlier in the case of Chest Hospital, the court had given an order to appoint a Heritage Conservation Committee and to get a No Objection Certificate before carrying out any work on the listed building,” said petitioner O.M. Debara of Forum for Better Hyderabad.
“It was an important office, built along with the others on the Raj Bhavan road by the seventh Nizam about 80 to 85 years ago,” said Mr. Qayyum. However, heritage activists could not ascertain who built the structure.
Heritage activists from the city said that with the Heritage Conservation Committee being non-existent, old structures are being demolished with impunity. “Is it not obvious? The Chief Minister’s camp office is right behind. Would he not know what is going on?” questioned an activist, not willing to be named.
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It’s an important office, built along with the others on the Raj Bhavan road by the seventh Nizam about 80 to 85 years ago
M.A. Qayyum
Former Assistant Director, Archaeology Department