Telangana HC seeks status report on colonial-era Koti college building
The order was issued on a PIL filed by conservation architect Vasanta Shoba Turaga
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday directed the director of the heritage department of Telangana to submit a status report on the condition of the former British Residency Complex (housing Koti Women’s College) along with photos before June 8.
The order was issued on a PIL filed by conservation architect Vasanta Shoba Turaga, who addressed a letter to the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court to highlight the poor condition of the Hashmat Gunj Gate, on the Badichowdi Road at Kabootar Khana in Sultan Bazaar, and neglect of the western wing of the structure.
“Due to lack of repairs, the condition of the western wing deteriorated over the years and collapsed further over the past two years,” she said in the letter.
Turaga was also responsible for a 2009 petition, based on which the High Court had declared the structure an ancient monument under the then Andhra Pradesh Ancient and Historical Monument and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1960.
She decided to write to the Chief Justice in November 2022 after attempts to protect the structure were sidelined by multiple parties.
Converting the letter into a PIL, the division bench of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N. Tukaramji on Tuesday also issued notices to the Archaeological Survey of India, its superintendent for the Hyderabad range, Chief Secretary of Telangana government, principal secretaries of municipal administration and youth and culture, GHMC, and the principal of Koti Women’s College.
The petitioner, in her letter, requested the High Court to direct authorities to restore and repair the structure, as well as to declare it a protected monument on par with the Lucknow Residency.
Further, she sought an extension of the boundaries of the structure to include the Hashmat Gunj Gate and municipal school clock tower churches.
She called for immediate work on the structure to save the building from collapse and also to ensure the safety of students, as the western wing houses the physics and chemistry blocks.