Hyderabad: On Thursday night, a portion of the iconic Charminar collapsed while repair work was being carried out here. The portion came crashing down when repair work was underway on the 16th-century monument. While it is not yet clear what led to the collapse, officials from the Archeological Survey of India are scheduled to visit the monument on Thursday to investigate the incident. Local reports in the past which have highlighted how drills and hammers have been used in the restoration process at the major tourist attraction which also has a mosque on the top floor.

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It is  425-year-old monument. Earlier a senior Archaeological Survey of India official said “The State government wants a Unesco World Heritage Site tag for Charminar and other sites in the city. But it is going about the maintenance in a ham-handed manner. It has to create an independent authority that can take a call on these kind of interventions,”. The ASI has raised the issue about the noise level and the pipeline work as part of the ongoing pedestrianisation work around Charminar with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has put up a board stating: “Rectification work of water stagnation location in buffer zone”. In Parliament, the Opposition parties led by the Congress demanded the proposed amendment to The Ancient Monument and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958 be referred to a select Rajya Sabha Committee before it is passed.

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