Hyderabad: The Telangana Wakf Board has allocated Rs.75 lakh for the re-construction of the shed at Shahi Masjid’s courtyard at Public Gardens which the government has reduced to Rs.42 lakh.
The Chairman of Waqf Board Mohammed Saleem had promised to sanction Rs 1.5 crore and said that Rs. 75 lakh shall be spent initially in the first phase of the work.
The officials in the Department, however, have decreased the amount to Rs 42 lakhs and refused to release the remaining amount. They say that whatever work has been done is enough and no amount shall be released for the remaining work.
The regular devotees of the mosque are shocked by the government refusal to release the remaining amount. They say that if the Department of Minority Welfare or Waqf Board does not release funds for the pending work of the dismantled shed, flooring and plaster, the devotees will collect donations to carry out the remaining work.
“The government had dismantled the mosque shed at its Courtyard a few months ago but still the work has not been completed,” said Safdar Mohiuddin Hashmi, a resident of Redhills who visits the mosque regularly. ” In the absence of the shed in the mosque’s courtyard, the devotees are forced to offer prayer in the open under the sun and rain,” he said.
