Rs 1 lakh per Ashoorkhana sought

Hyderabad: The state government has not responded to the demand of Rs 1 lakh per ashoorkhana made by Shia Muslims, even as Muharram, the month of mourning, is set to begin on October 13. The ashoorkhanas still lie in a  state of neglect and even the basic works of whitewashing and cleaning have not been done.

Mir Firasath Ali Baqri, general secretary of the Hyderi Educational Society, said, “We have been following up with the state government since the last three months but there has been no response. We asked for Rs 20 crore to ensure that in the next one year all major repair works are completed. There are 6,000 ashoorkhanas in the state. Those under the Wakf Board are in an utter state of neglect. We are doing patchwork repairs, whitewashing and cleaning to observe Muharram but for the actual repair, the state government along with Wakf Board must act.”

The ashoorkhanas and Imambada at Rein Bazaar, Doodh Bowli, Mir Alam Mandi, Bai Chanda at Zehranagar Mandi and at Gowlipura require urgent repairs. A state-level meeting was held to deal with the issues of security and traffic regulation apart from hygiene for Muharram, but on the main issue of repairs and restoration, only an assurance was given that this would be done.

With two major incidents in the city in one month — the chajja of the Badshahi ashoorkhana collapsed on September 18 and the wall of the Hussain-i-Alam ashoorkhana fell on October 4 — are worrying the community about the structural stability of these old structures.

Mir Hadi Ali of the All India Shia Organisation in TS, said, “The ashoorkhanas under the control of the Wakf Board are being opened only for Muharram. Some others where the caretakers are carrying out cleaning are in use every Thursday. These places have been built for mourning. Hence thousands throng them during these days. Despite knowing the structural issues, the state government has done little to repair them.”

Deputy CM Mahmood Ali said, “We have funds and we are willing to look into the issues of repairs. These structures are our pride and we will work towards restoring them.”

Mustufa Hussain, a city resident, said, “We have made it a practice to involve young men from the community for cleaning and whitewashing ashoorkhanas to help them understand that upkeep of these places is important. Some of them who work abroad send money every year. While we can do the cleaning, repairs can’t be carried out as it is a government property.”

Restoration of Ashoorkhana costs Rs 30 lakh

The GHMC has repaired the roof of the Hussain-i-Alam ashoorkhana and reconstructed the wall that had collapsed earlier this month during rains, utilising a part of the Rs 30 lakh that was sanctioned in 2014 but was not used.

A senior GHMC officer at the site said, “The repair works in the small room where the alams are kept has been carried out. But the caretaker has been instructed to close the room after 10 days as some works will have to be carried out later.” The whitewashing of the ashoorkhana as well as cleaning of the compound area, ablution pond and the surrounding lanes has been completed.

The Hussain-i-Alam ashoorkhana gets a large number of visitors and at any given point of time there are more than 500 people in the compound during the first 10 days of Muharram.