The collapse of the wall at MJ Colony in Moula Ali on Tuesday stoked rumours among the residents in the area that it belonged to the family of the Nizam’s descendants who reside behind the land where the tragedy occurred. That, however, turned out to be only a rumour as the property surrounding the old wall belongs to the family of Nawab Mehdi Jung Bahadur, who has been residing there for generations.
Just behind the land, where construction on a piece of land resulted in the caving-in of the decades-old wall, a small palace can be seen.
The palace which has MJ carved on it, was reportedly built by the Nawab Mehdi Jung Bahadur or the next generation of his family decades ago when the Nizam was in power.
The current owners of the palace are all descendants of Nawab Syed Maqsood Ali Khan, who was Bahadur’s youngest son.
“Currently, this place belongs to my father Syed Ali Imdad and his three brothers, and we all live here. The place, where the wall fell, was earlier given to Prestige Avenue Developers for construction,” said Syeda Kownain Fatima (24), daughter of Syed Imdad Ali. She explained that her family had then taken back the land from them as there were issues, and the land was then handed over to one Aziz Ahmed, a developer known to the royal family.
Fatima said that the domestic security personnel residing on the premises had in the past warned the families of Mahadev and Venkataiah that their lives could be in danger because the wall was weak. “We told them we needed to renovate the place but they did not heed our warning,” she said.
Speaking to Express over phone, her father Syed Imdad Ali said that the wall was in a dilapidated condition and that it may have been well over 70 years old. But some neighbours said the wall was over 100 years old.