Hyderabad: People are in the danger of forgetting Gunfoundry, the Nizam era cannon ball making unit. The unit is kept locked most of the time. Most people don’t even know where it is located. A question for directions elicits the response, Arrey, woh Abids ke paas hai na (It’s near Abids).” There are no direction boards leading to the site.
Gunfoundry, also known as ‘Top ka Sancha’, was set up by the French under the second Nizam in 1786. Today, it is in a state of utter neglect. Residential colonies have come up around the site, and only a part of Gunfoundry remains. Mr Ramakrishna, a research scholar of Osmania University, said, “The archaeology department should install a stone plate mentioning the history of the place. Only a few people know that the keys can be obtained from the department. On a recent trip to the site, locals said that the place is always locked. Upon further inquiry it was ascertained that the keys are available with the archaeology department.”
“The tourists can visit the site by taking the keys from us,” said Mr K. Padmanabha, the deputy director of archaeology and museums. He said the department was keeping the premises locked because people throw garbage and spoiling the facade.
