Visitor experience at Golconda Fort goes for a toss as new row of shops pop on the main road

The drive to get near the inner fortification of the national monument of Golconda Fort just got longer in Hyderabad. All the vehicles that go towards the medieval fort entrance now struggle to navigate the curve near the Katora Houz.

“The new shops were built within the last few months. All the land belongs to the owner. They can do whatever they want. Each of the shutter/shop/mulgi is being rented out for ₹12,000 and all have been booked,” says Naeem, who runs a small kiosk of electrical goods in the neighbourhood.

A row of 34 bright yellow shops have surrounded the old house that abuts the Katora Houz on the south-west side. A multi storeyed building is also coming up blocking the view of the fort from that Katora Houz neighbourhood robbing whatever little authenticity remains of the heritage site.

“We have sent a notice to the site owner about violation of the 100 metres prohibited area in the national monument. A copy of the notice has also been sent to the district collectorate, police, civic body and revenue department. Only they can act and enforce the law. We can only send the notice,” said an official of the Archaeological Survey of India.

The uneven road to Golconda’s Habshi Kaman gate from the Banjari Darwaza is a 25 ft narrow curving road that is perpetually under repair as the population of the fort has expanded without adequate sanitation or waste treatment facilities. The result: it is dug up to clean the muck that accumulates in the sewerage line.

The fort which is a showpiece of Hyderabad’s medieval fortification and architecture of the Qutb Shahi dynasty has been blighted by runaway encroachments that ring round the inner fortification to the outer wall.

“Any other society would cherish and preserve it proudly. But this is being destroyed in front of our eyes. The multi-storeyed building will block the view of Bala Hissar to visitors entering the monument. The sense of awe and splendour will be lost. We cannot treat our heritage as just another piece of real estate,” says Sajjad Shahid of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage who first raised an alarm over the development.

The Golconda Fort was a mud fortification before the Qutb Shahis gained control and began ruling from the high fort sometime in 1518. The cyclopean masonry fort with rings of walls, granaries, turrets, parapet walls and hidden entrances was completed during the time of Ibrahim Qutb Shah’s rule till 1580. The fort evolved over centuries, and even during the Asaf Jahi period when the Nau Mahal was added.

“Nothing remains of the Nau Mahal except the door posts and a wall. Once all the shops are occupied and buyers park their vehicles the road will be unusable spoiling visitor experience. There is no setback and a petrol bunk is also coming up. Imagine all the traffic,” says architect Sibghat Khan who conducts heritage walks in Hyderabad.