Hyderabad: The historic Gulzar Houz fountain, built over 400 years ago and which has been lying in abject neglect, is now functional again.
Constructed by Mir Momin Astarabadi, the first Prime Minister under Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah’s rule in the 1890s, the fountain – located in the centre of the four massive arches near the Charminar called the Charkaman—had become a breeding ground for mosquitoes and a garbage dump.
But now, the GHMC hopes its blue fence will discourage citizens from dumping waste into the fountain. The civic body had carried out the work using a special budget. The new-look fountain will be inaugurated soon.
Besides this fountain, a large number of the 50 fountains installed across the city are now defunct. Several of these have lost their taps and plumbing parts to thieves.
Originally, the Gulzar Houz was octagonal in shape and four streams used to flow from this fountain, dividing each of the radial roads into two halves. This foundation was previously known as Char-Su- Ka- Hauz (the fountain of four cardinal points, which later became Sukha – Hauz and now, Gulzar Houz.
