'Got No Govt Funding': Aga Khan Trust For Culture Tells Telangana HC In PIL Alleging Catastrophic Failure In Conserving Qutub Shahi Tombs

The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) has told the Telangana High Court that it has under taken conservation of not only seven Qutub Shahi Tombs but also 86 individual other monuments, adding that it has not received government funding for conservation of the same. The submission was made in AKTC's counter affidavit filed in response to a Public Interest Petition taken up by the high court based on a letter addressed by one K. Madhu Yakshi Goud who has alleged that AKTC failed to conserve the Qutub Shahi Tombs despite being allocated 100 crores by the government. When the matter was taken up on April 1, a division bench of Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Ranuka Yara granted three weeks time to various respondent authorities to file their response. "As prayed, three weeks time is granted to file counter to the parties whose counter is awaited. List after summer vacation, 2025," the court said. The respondents in the matter includes State of Telangana represented by its Chief Secretary; Director General and Director of Archaeology and Museums Department Gunfoundry, Abids; Principal Secretary of Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department; Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation; Principal Secretary of Youth Advancement, Tourism and Culture Department; Aga Khan Trust for Culture; District Collector Hyderabad District; District Collector Ranga Reddy District. The plea, pointing to the circumstances stated in Goud's letter, seeks necessary directions to the respondent Authorities to immediately terminate AKTC's contract by initiating a thorough investigation into mismanagement of funds and resources of the trust; to impose penalties and sanctions on AKTC for their negligence and incompetence and ensure site's protection and conservation by a competent authority. Goud's contention as stated in letter:Goud, who has stated to be a social worker in his letter of the September 2024 addressed to the state government which gave rise to the PIL has claimed, “catastrophic failure of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in conserving the Qutub Shahi Tombs a UNESCO recognized heritage site in Hyderabad". He has claimed that "despite allocating Rs 100 crores" AKTC has utterly failed to conserve these seven historical tombs. Goud has claimed that the "trusts incompetence has resulted in irreversible damage to the tombs structures, loss of original layers and surfaces water seepage and damage, poor quality restoration work inability to protect the site from vandalism". It states that Qutub Shahi Tombs including the tomb of Md Quli Qutub Shah have been severely damaged, the stones are exposed and the layers have been removed the site's condition has deteriorated significantly since AKTC took over. Contentions by Aga Khan Trust for CultureAt the outset, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in its counter affidavit has clarified that the Qutub Shahi Tombs were not a UNESCO World Heritage site. The trust has said in fact, it is trust which has received the 'UNESCO Award of Distinction' in 2022 for the conservation works as well as four UNESCO Awards for their conservation effort at Humayun's Tomb – Sunder Nursery – Nizamuddin Basti. With respect to the claim of failure in conservation of the "seven historical tombs" the trust has stated, "In fact, AKTC has undertaken conservation work not only on 'seven historical tombs' but on 86 individual monuments – tombs, baolis, funerary mosques, Idgah, Hamam, amongst others. The conservation work on 86 monuments and numerous graves has also been coupled with landscape restoration across the 106 acres site". Further the Trust claims that no government funds were sanctioned to it, adding that all funds required for conserving the 86 monuments and numerous graves – requiring over 650,000 man-days of work by skilled craftsmen–"have come from AKTC's own resources". "No government funds have been provided to undertake any conservation work whatsoever. Several ill-informed, incorrect and misleading statements have been made in the said letter, which seems to be actually an anonymous communication styled as being sent from some identifiable individual of significance but actually an attempt at casting regrettable aspersions on the agencies working on the project. As stated towards the end of this counter, pictures provided with the PIL ostensibly show damage to the monuments. These pictures all date from 2022-23 and are misleadingly presented as if of the present time, and 50% of them are different pictures of the same matter in respect of which authoritative opinion is that this is an aspect that does not admit of repair work for technical reasons connected with heat expansion and water seepage due to flaws in the original work, which itself is a later addition, as detailed in paragraph 23 below. The pictures in all other cases are taken prior to the repairs and the minors damage has all since been repaired," the trust has said. It has further said that it would welcome an...

'Got No Govt Funding': Aga Khan Trust For Culture Tells Telangana HC In PIL Alleging Catastrophic Failure In Conserving Qutub Shahi Tombs

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