Days after the historic Nizam-era structure housing the old Central Bus Station (CBS) collapsed in Hyderabad on Thursday, the family members of Nizam Osman Ali Khan on Saturday wrote to Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
In a letter to the CM, Najaf Ali Khan, the grandson of Nizam Osman Ali Khan, alleged sabotage and demanded a judicial inquiry into the collapse of the structure at Gowliguda.
He demanded that a fact-finding committee must be constituted with heritage and architectural experts to investigate the collapse.
“The government should come out with a white paper on heritage monuments in city. It should strive to restore the heritage of Hyderabad and TS for future generations,” the letter reportedly stated.
His letter came after several city-based heritage activists expressed doubts on how a structurally-sound construction collapsed within a matter of days.
However, the government denied any such claims and said that the structure collapsed due to its old age.
There was no loss of life in the collapse earlier this week as the officials of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation had luckily vacated the place just two days ago on the advice of engineers and buses had stopped entering the premises.
Earlier known as Mississippi aircraft hangar, it had been constructed in the 1930s by Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last ruler of the princely state of Hyderabad, for the maintenance of his aircraft. It was later used as a bus station by the Nizam's Road Transport Department.
A major landmark of the city, it has been a bus station for the past six decades. Located on the banks of Musi River, it was the first pre-fabricated structure of the city.
It was the bus station for Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corp (APSRTC), serving millions of people across undivided Andhra Pradesh.
In 1994, when Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station was built nearby, CBS was converted into a garage for APSRTC and a stop for city buses in Gowliguda.