Charminar Minaret Damaged as Heavy Rains Lash Hyderabad

Hyderabad: With heavy rains battering Hyderabad, a piece of lime stucco work on one of the minarets of historic Charminar fell down on Thursday.

Videos showing a chunk of lime plaster from the north-east minaret are being widely circulated on social media platforms. The visuals show small pieces of plaster chipping off the minaret as people were seen scurrying for cover.

The 434-year old heritage monument Charminar is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). It is not clear whether the monument has suffered any structural damage due to the unseasonal torrential rainfall coupled with strong winds.

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In 2019, Charminar suffered similar damage following unseasonal rains. A piece of lime plaster came off the granite slab on the minaret facing Mecca Masjid side and fell down and this was incidentally after the ASI had undertaken restoration work on the monument.

Heavy rains not only provided relief from intense heat but also brought vehicular movement to a standstill in Hyderabad. Due to heavy downpour, waterlogging was reported in several low lying areas in the old city.
Banjara Hills, Punjagutta, Jubilee Hills, Masab Tank, Begumpet, Paradise, Trimulgherry, Karkhana, Alwal, Sainikpuri, ECIL cross roads, Kapra, Tarnaka and Habsiguda. Several parts of Narayanguda, Himayathnagar and Khairatabad received significant rainfall.

#HyderabadRains trended on X (formerly) with several users sharing the rain related videos on the microblogging platform. The arterial roads around Malakpet choked with traffic after heavy waterlogging was reported at Malakpet RUB (road under railway bridge).

Meanwhile, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD)-Hyderabad has said that the state will witness more rains till Sunday and from tomorrow maximum temperatures will gradually fall by 2 to 4 degree Celsius during next 4 days.