HC pulls up tourism secretary over Hill Fort Palace restoration works

HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court, which had previously ordered the state government to immediately begin restoration and conservation work on the Hill Fort Palace, a heritage precinct in Basheerbagh, has questioned the state government on what steps it had taken to revive the Palace and how much money was required for restoration.

A division bench of the High Court consisted of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice C.V. Bhaskar Reddy on Tuesday observed that the Telangana Tourism Development Corporation had been delaying restoration work on the Palace for more than a year under the guise of waiting for government funds. The bench summoned the secretary of tourism, who appeared before the court, and asked what steps the department had taken so far to revive the Palace, as well as how much money was being estimated for restoration works and who was doing the estimation. In response, the officer stated that two architects, Anuradha Reddy and another Anuradha, were estimating the cost, which would be around Rs 1 lakh per square metre or so. Further, the accurate estimate would be available soon.

Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan reacted angrily, questioning the officer how the department had estimated the cost of Rs 50 crore for revival works and sent a proposal to the government to sanction the money without receiving the cost estimation from the architects. The CJ also questioned how the tourism department claimed that the work would begin soon without undertaking any preliminary work.

In previous hearings, the tourism department contended that the restoration works would begin soon, once the amount of Rs 50 crore was released by the finance department. In light of this, the court summoned the secretary of finance, GHMC commissioner, and MD at the last hearing.

B.S. Prasad, advocate general, requested an eight-week adjournment of the case, assuring the court that he will speak with all department officers who appeared before the court and devise a work schedule, including approval of funds from the state government, and file a detailed and comprehensive affidavit. The court gave the authorities two weeks and adjourned the case to December 9, directing them to provide a comprehensive step-by-step report on restoration work.