Hyderabad: No matter how tall a claim is made by the State government, the renovation of the ancient historical Makkah Masjid is going on at an extremely slow pace due to the careless attitude of the archeological survey officials.
The state government has allotted 18 months time for the completion of the repairing work. But it is around 4 years now and the work is still in the initial phase.
One can gauge the careless attitude of the officials by looking at the interior plaster work which has been falling off within 3 months. Thus, the plastering work has to be done all over again to the tombs.
The Mosque’s original plaster was so sturdy that it never fell off during the last 400 years. After the work undertaken by the Archeological Survey the new plaster is falling off within a few months.
The old worshippers of the Mosque say that the recent repair work instead of strengthening the structure is weakening it. The repairing and renovation work has to be reviewed by the experts to safeguard the structure of the historic mosque.
In 2017, repairing and renovation work was started after the State Government allocated Rs 8 crores. The Archeological Survey of India had given contracts to two maintenance companies in the beginning. One of these companies left the work in between and quit.
In the absence of non-supervision of the repairing work, the officials of the Archeological Survey are behaving whimsically.
The pairing of the “Muqbara” is completed and now the work is going on inside the mosque. Out of 16 tombs the work of 12 has been completed. But the plaster of most of these tombs are falling off and the plastering has to be done all over again. Currently, repairs of three tombs are underway.
On the upper side of the structure there are 196 small windows which have to be re-installed with an expert carpenter else these ancient windows can get damaged.
The carpentry and electrical work had to be done alongside the plastering work in order not to bore the walls again and again. But there seems to be no coordination between various contractors which may cause damage to the structure’s walls.
Apart from the electrical and carpentry, other works like public address system cabling and flooring are still to be commenced.
During the past two years the government officials are announcing that the repairing work will be completed before the onset of holy Ramadan but it was not to be so.
Even the current work is not expected to be completed before the onset of the coming holy Ramadan.
The old worshippers of the mosque are expressing their deep anguish at the pace and bad quality of the current repairing and renovation works. There is no proper arrangement for prayer mats in the mosque. The matter was brought to the notice of the concerned officials many times in the past but to no avail.
