HYDERABAD: A few days after the Telangana government inaugurated the Moazzam Jahi Market with great pomp, a visit to the site by The New Indian Express showed that the various portions of the 85-year-old structure, which the state claimed to have restored, was leaking from the ceiling.
Water was seeping through the roof and running down the walls at the new exhibition area and also in the main courtyard. The water is also making the granite stones wet.
Experts said that prolonged exposure to such conditions will lead to structural damage of Moazzam Jahi. Although the pillars and wall which are made of stone may last longer, long time exposure may damage the roof, and in the worst-case scenario it may cause irreversible damage, experts said.
When the issue was brought to the notice of an official, the person concerned said that the ceiling in the exhibition roof was yet to be solidified and the incessant rains was playing a spoilsport. The official assured that as for the exhibition room, the situation will improve once the rain subsides and it is given time to dry. As for the situation in the main courtyard, where works ended long back, officials said that matter will be looked into immediately.
Meanwhile, miffed shopkeepers at Moazzam Jahi market questioned the government's Rs 16 crore restoration project. "It has been consistently dripping from the roof in front of my shop. It has just been two days, and the situation is this. What will happen in a few years?" a shopkeeper said.
On August 14, the state government officially reopened the Moazzam Jahi Market after it underwent restoration process for around 2 years. They had then claimed that a cebara laryering was done to roofs to prevent water seepage.
The four clocks which adorn the clocktower, which had stopped functioning, were replaced. The huge gold finials on top of the clocktowers were also restored. A flag post has been erected in the central courtyard.