The restoration works of the Sardar Mahal are expected to be completed in the next six months if all goes well. The QQSUDA officials are hopeful the heritage structure will be opened for the public by March next year when tourists from across the country arrive in the city during summer vacations.
The restoration work on the heritage building began in 2022 and was halted for a few months in between due to a paucity of funds. After the intervention of the local public representatives, the works were resumed and are now going on.
“The majority of the works are completed. Small works are pending and we are hopeful of completing the pending works by March next year,” said an official of Quli Qutb Shah Urban Development Authority (QQSUDA).
The State government plans to revive the heritage building and have an art studio, a cultural centre, along with a small café to make it a tourist hub. The QQSUDA is overseeing the works while a private agency was entrusted with the task of its restoration.
Officials said the heritage building will have an art gallery, cafe and heritage accommodation on the lines of Neemrana Fort Palace in Rajasthan. The project is being taken up at a cost of Rs. 30 crores. Once completed, it would be one of the major attractions in the Old City.
GHMC Commissioner R V Karnan had visited and reviewed the work progress two months ago along with local public representatives.
According to historians, Sardar Mahal was built in the European style by Nizam VI Mir Mahboob Ali Khan in 1900. Though Mahboob Ali Khan, the then ruler of Hyderabad State, built the palace for one of his beloved consorts, Sardar Begum, she refused to inhabit this token of love as it did not live up to her expectations. No one stayed there but the building took her name.
It was declared a heritage building by the Heritage Conservation Committee and the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH). The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) took over Sardar Mahal in 1965 due to outstanding property taxes.
