HYDERABAD: The Government Ayurveda Hospital at Charminar has been waiting for a new designated building for their outpatient consultation for over four years now. Officials claim that the old building was demolished because of its dilapidated state and Rs 50 lakh was sanctioned in 2015 by the State for the construction of a new building, but the construction has not yet started.
However, the Principal of Government Ayurvedic Hospital and Research Centre, Dr Ch Ravinder said, “It has been four years since the sanction of the funds, but due to the interference of the local political leaders in the area, the construction has not yet begun. One of the reasons for the delay is also the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, that says no construction activity can be carried in a radius of 200 metres of a monument, protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.”
The Charminar assembly constituency has been under the governance of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) for the last couple of decades. The budget of Rs 50 lakh was sanctioned when Syed Ahmed Pasha Quadri was the MLA of the constituency.
A well-placed source at the hospital alleged, “This is an unfair method to move out the Ayurveda department so that the Unani department can flourish without any constraints.”
It is interesting to note that the out-patient department of the Government Nizamia Unani Hospital, which is housed in the same building has started a similar construction for their department in the same compound. The developmental difference in both the departments, that are separated by just a curtain, is blatantly visible.
Incidentally, in the aftermath of the collapse of a portion of lime plaster from Charminar’s southwest minaret, illegal constructions around the monument had come into the spotlight.
One such mammoth construction belongs to the age-old Jama Masjid, situated right next to the monument to extend the space for their madrasa. The construction is happening within the 100 perimeters of Charminar, and a stone’s throw away from the GHMC South Zone office.