Fresh controversy erupted on Saturday after Telangana deputy chief minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali claimed that Hyderabad's iconic Charminar will be pulled down if it becomes structurally weak.
Answering a question on the proposed demolition of the Osmania General Hospital (OGH), Ali said "When Charminar becomes dilapidated, say after 200 years, 400 years, 500 years, it will have to be pulled down. It poses a threat to lives of people if it is left in a dilapidated condition."
However, when Times of India contacted the deputy CM, he said he was misquoted. "Neither the government, nor I want to demolish Charminar. We love and cherish it. I mentioned the monument only in passing to explain the shelf-life of any building. Charminar will stand for another 500 years," he told the newspaper.
The Telangana government's decision to delist and demolish the IP block of the OGH, has set in panic, especially amongst those fighting for landmark structures and historic buildings.
Telangana chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had earlier called for high rises and added that two towers, 24 floors each, would be constructed in its place. Historians and heritage experts who have come out in the open, with a call to save the building.