Telangana's Borstal School shifted from crumbling Kakatiya-era fort

HYDERABAD: Footprints of the British era may be found across the country. But with time, they run the threat of being swept away with the winds. Borstal School, a type of youth detention centre from the British era, continue to mark the Indian landscape to date.

In the State, Nizamabad is home to one School that is, unfortunately, nearing dilapidation if not given immediate expert attention. 

Years after the number of inmates at Nizamabad district’s Borstal School have been steadily coming down, last year the Prisons Department finally shifted its last two inmates to the Nizamabad district jail. 

“The buildings are now too old to house any inmates. There were two inmates last year but we had to shift them to the district jail as the building is in a dilapidated condition,” said VK Singh, director general of the State prisons department. Jail officials have confessed to a ‘fear’ of working in these structures when patches of the ceiling keep falling every now and then. 

With a capacity of over ninety inmates, the school was extensively used to impart vocational training to those convicted for a period of two years, mostly, during the British rule. It continued for some time in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh but later its use was minimal.

Deeper roots. Explaining the historical prevalence of the structure Anuradha Reddy of Indian National Trust of Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) said that the Borstal School is housed in a fort built under the rule of Kakatiya dynasty. 

“The British used the structure to house inmates who were in conflict with the law. It was later given to the Nizams of Hyderabad. The site is at least 100 years old. There are inscriptions of the Kakatiya dynasty on the walls of the fort. A Ramalyam is also located in the fort where a lot of locals observe Sita Ramula Kalyanam,” Reddy said. 

But all hope is not lost in protecting the heritage site as the State government is mulling to protect the one-acre site. It may be noted that Tamil Nadu has already shut its Borstal school after its HC observed that the facilities provided proved inept.