Hyderabad: Iqbal-ud-Dowla Devdi once an imposing palace built by Shams al-Umara in the late 18th century has now been reduced to a picture of neglect.
The structure is a combination of both the Palladian and Edwardian styles of architecture. The historical structure is located in Shah Gunj. Thanks to the negligence of government the once dazzled structure has developed cracks in walls, the paint is peeling off from its gigantic columns.
Once used extensively for film shoots, certain parts of the building were reportedly damaged during the shooting of Mahesh Babu’s super-hit film ‘Okkadu’.
The palace with four quadrangles a central cistern had many rooms. Earlier it was called Paigah but the palace fell into disuse after the nobleman shifted residence to Paigah Palace in Begumpet.
Instead of protecting the splendid structure the government’s move to do away with the protection of heritage structures has left the building exposed to natural elements and the unscrupulous. Now the GHMC has included it in the list of dilapidated buildings.
If nothing is done to protect the monument immediately the magnificent structure will soon be demolished by GHMC.