NEW DELHI - The central dome of a 200-year-old mosque in the Indian Capital New Delhi has come crashing down due to the heavy monsoon rains in the city.
The red sandstone Mubarak Begum mosque, built by a courtesan in 1823, is among some of the iconic heritage sites in the historic old quarters of the city.
On Sunday, the flooding in the city killed two people leading to the collapse of many houses and trees.
"At around 6.45 am [01:15 GMT], the dome collapsed with a huge sound," the mosque's 45-year-old imam Mohammad Zahid told Anadolu Agency.
"I was sleeping in my room inside the mosque when I heard thunder. We have since locked the mosque. But we continued offering namaz [prayers] and teachings in the open courtyard."
Zahid has been the muezzin (who calls for prayers) and imam at the mosque since 2004. He revealed that the last repair at the historic mosque was done in 2016.
Since then, he said he had written several letters to the office of the Waqf Board, a government institution that looks after Muslim structures in the country, to draw its attention to the deteriorating structure and to seek their help to repair the roof.
On Monday, Zahid wrote again to the Delhi Waqf Board's office, asking for the restoration of the damaged structure. He said officers from the board had visited the site to assess the damage.
The Waqf officials did not reply to Anadolu's queries regarding the issue.
However, Himal Akhtar, a member of the Waqf Board, told the Indian Express newspaper that conservation of the historic mosque was a priority. (Aljazeera)