A portion of a wall in the south-west side of the Quilashapur fort, located in Jangaon district, Telangana, which is over three centuries old, collapsed due to the rain on Thursday. In the incident, three houses near the wall were demolished. However, fortunately there were no casualties.
Residents alleged that they had informed the authorities about the cracks in the fort’s wall but no action was taken. On Thursday, as the cracks widened, the wary residents were certain that the 25-feet high wall could crumble at any moment and had moved to a safe distance. They residents recorded video of the majestic wall crumbling down and covering the area with dust.
The fort built by Sardar Sarvai Pappanna is estimated to be built in 1690, according to researcher and heritage enthusiast Aravind Arya Pakide. Pappanna was a king who was born in 1650 and died in 1709.
Speaking to TNM, Deputy Director (Engineering), Department of Heritage B Narayana said, “We did not anticipate that the structure would collapse.”
Officials from the Department of Heritage had visited the area after residents had complained about the wall developing a crack a fortnight ago. “We visited the place fifteen days ago, and had written a letter to the Collector regarding the situation, but the letter did not reach the Collector’s office. We did not expect that the wall would collapse so soon,” Narayana said.
The fort was constructed with granite, lime mortar and mud.
Two years ago, in 2018, the Telangana government had allocated Rs 4.5 crore to renovate the fort that spreads over 2.25 acres and bring it back to its past glory. The first phase of the renovation was completed in 2018 itself. However, they were yet to fix the exterior walls of the fort.
Officials from the Department of Heritage visited the spot on Thursday to examine the damage. “We are yet to make an estimate about the amount to restore the collapsed wall,” Narayana said.
According to Aravind, who closely works with the Department of Heritage, the cracks had developed in the wall earlier in August during the monsoon, and the authorities had then estimated a cost of Rs 19 lakh to repair the damages.
Earlier this week, a portion of the Majnu Burj inside the Golconda Fort in Hyderabad, too collapsed due to rains. Telangana received heavy rains for two days due to the deep depression in Bay of Bengal. The government estimated the loss caused by the rains at Rs 5000 crore.