Hyderabad: Was it a wild goose chase? In retrospect, it appeared so. There were no startling revelations. An intense four-hour inspection of the Nizam's palaces disclosed nothing, which was not already known.

Hyderabad Collector R. Chandravadan, and Director, Archaeology and Museums, Kedareswari, made a detailed inspection of the famed Chowmohalla palace and the Chiran palace on Monday following a directive by the Chief Justice of the High Court. In response to a petition, the court ordered the Collector to personally visit the palace within 72 hours to ensure that all the artefacts were preserved and protected.

Status report sought

It all happened when the court was dealing with a writ petition filed by conservation architect Vasanta Sobha Turaga, seeking declaration of the former British Residency complex at Koti as a national protected monument. At this juncture, senior advocate K.G. Kannabiran brought to the court's notice that a few vintage cars, horse-drawn carriages and artefacts were lying in the Chowmohalla palace which were likely to be `damaged, stolen or fettered away.'

The court also took notice of the construction activity around Chowmohalla palace and directed MCH standing counsel G. Rama Rao to submit a comprehensive status report. The case was posted for Tuesday.

Mr. Chandravadan and Ms. Kedareswari went round the sprawling Chowmohalla palace and saw the restoration of the `buggies'. They also visited the Darbar hall and examined the huge chandeliers. But in the absence of an inventory of the palace articles they were at a loss to crosscheck what was originally present and now missing. The palace's chief coordinator, Bakhtiar A. Ansari, was asked to furnish a list of the articles within three days.

No satisfactory reply

The Collector couldn't get a satisfactory reply about the contents of eight huge safes present in the verandah. He said some of the articles were kept in stores and once the renovation of the palaces was complete they would be displayed. Mr. Ansari also said that six cars were shifted from here to the Chiran palace for protection.

The Chowmohalla palace was not protected but the court had asked the Government to take steps to protect all heritage whether protected or not, the Collector said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail