The nearly eight-decade-old Collectorate building, which is among the handful of surviving links that this part of Telangana has with its past, is getting a new lease of life, thanks to renovation work taken up by the government.
The heritage structure was in dire need of protection from rapid weathering and damages being caused by the ‘unsuitable’ constant repairs.
The building, which has an extended middle to function as portico and a large courtyard in the middle, was constructed in 1941 during the last decade of Nizam’s rule to function as the administrative nerve centre of Adilabad district, following shifting of the headquarters from Asifabad to this town. The structure has expansive rooms and was constructed in lime-mortar which made the task of conservation a shade challenging for the engineers.
The sanction for renovation of the building was given in 2018 with an outlay of ₹3.07 crore but work started only in the last quarter of 2019 since many things had to be planned, especially on the technical side. “We not only needed to take into account the ‘heritage’ quotient when restoring damaged parts but also to keep the cost within permissible limits,” said R&B deputy executive engineer R. Suresh, who is handling the work.
As far as conservation part of the work is concerned, all the old plaster on the walls is being replaced by two coats of new cement one with a 20% mix of lime. The toughest part was removal of the existing six-inch terrace and replacing it properly to arrest the leakages while reducing overly burdening the surface.
“Water harvesting is also given equal priority. A stormwater drain to collect rainwater and discharge it in the existing rainwater harvesting pits is also part of the plan,” assistant executive engineer K. Shwetha added. There is some renovation work, too, that has been planned — like replacing the flooring and painting the building. There, however, is no plan to earmark a place for parking of vehicles and shifting of government billboards and the weather display from the front part of the buildings, the works on which are likely to be completed by June.
