Telangana government plans to finish grand structure next to Haj House
HYDERABAD: Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali on Thursday asked the Telangana State Police Housing Corporation to examine the possibility of developing the incomplete multi-storey structure next to Haj House in Nampally into a grandiose building.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had suggested at a public meeting four years’ ago that the building could be utilised for housing all government organisations related to minorities under one roof.
Thursday’s suggestion of the home minister came after he inspected the building, which has been lying incomplete since 2013.
The State Wakf Board had 15 years ago acquired lands on both sides of the Haj House, the one on the southern side, an evacuee property, from the government at a cost of Rs 8.5 crore, and the other on the northern side from a private party at a cost of Rs 22 crore. The board then started constructing a 1.6 lakh square feet “Garden View Mall” in 2011 on the northern side of the Haj House. It was proposed to be a G+7 building with two cellars, constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 30 crore. But the construction stopped due to a dispute with the builder. By then, the Wakf Board had already spent Rs 13 crore on it.
Subsequently, the board authorities wanted to lease out the entire structure to a single party, so that it could develop the structure as per its requirements. A proposal in this regard was sent to the government, which neither accepted plan nor accorded permission to Wakf Board to complete the structure with its own funds. It was subsequent to this that KCR suggested that the building be utilised to house all government institutions related to minorities.
Post his inspection, the Home Minister disclosed that he has asked officials of the Police Housing Board Corporation to evaluate the strength of the structure and prepare a plan for utilising it. He pointed out that the corporation’s engineers have vast experience in construction and said, “We will go ahead based on the opinion that the experts give”.
Mahmood Ali also asked Khairatabad Zonal Commissioner of GHMC Mohammed Musharraf Ali Farooqui to make arrangements for pumping out the rainwater accumulated within the cellars of the incomplete building.
Online services for Hajis inaugurated
Home Minister Mahmood Ali on Thursday inaugurated free online services for pilgrims who would be heading for Haj during 2020.
Speaking on the occasion, Mahmood Ali asserted that the Telangana State Haj Committee is providing one of the best services to Haj pilgrims in the country.
He appreciated the Haj Committee for making foolproof arrangements under the leadership of its chairman Mohammed Masihullah Khan.
The Home Minister pointed out that after Masihullah Khan raised the issue of high GST on airfare of Haj pilgrims at the recent India Haj Conference in New Delhi, the Centre had lowered the GST to just five per cent.
Masihullah Khan, who also spoke, said the Haj Committee was striving hard to provide best of facilities to pilgrims. He pointed out that 10 counters were opened at the Haj House, while making available application forms online.
He said the login process of the website hajcommittee.gov.in is quite simple. It required only an email ID and password to create an account on the website. The same can also be done over a mobile phone by downloading the app from Google Play store.
Masihullah Khan said last year, they received 13,368 applications from Telangana and 5,284 of them had performed the Haj through the State Haj Committee.
Total 8,316 pilgrims hailing from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu went for Haj through the Hyderabad embarkation point. The last date for submitting online applications for Haj 2020 is November 10.
Government Whip in Legislative Council M. S. Prabhakar, Chairman Wakf Board Mohammed Saleem and Haj Committee Executive Officer B. Shafiullah and others were present.
