A portion of the ancient battlement of Golconda Fort in the Resham Bagh area has been demolished over the past few days. “The wall can be seen in a 1980 photograph. Later, it was walled inside a house. I noticed a few days ago that it was being demolished. They brought down the arches of the wall,” said a resident, sharing information about the destruction.
A small two-bedroom house, which touched the wall, was also pulled down to pave way for removing the entire portion of the wall and construct a bigger house.
On Saturday afternoon, two dump trucks waited at the site while an earthmover broke the wall built with large granite blocks. The site is close to the Patancheru Darwaza which has emerged as a go-to spot for heritage walks in the city. The fort is under the control of the Archaeological Survey of India, but large stretches of the wall and land have been encroached upon.
“We serve notices but those are torn and thrown away in front of our staff. They have been threatened multiple time,” said an official unwilling to go on record.
The Golconda fort has three rings of stone walls, each thicker than the other. The wall that is being demolished is the second layer that merged with the Masjid-e-Qutb Shahi. Portions of the Golconda Fort wall, gates, and khidkis (windows) have been encroached and used as building material.
Even 400-year-old palaces, including Nau Mahal and Moti Mahal, have disappeared over the last three decades. The outer portion of the 500-year-old Safa Masjid near the Habshi Kaman was demolished during the COVID-19 lockdown period and a new building has come up in its place.
