"Crying For Help": As Books Lose To Screens, A Bhopal Library Rots Away

Several prominent institutions, including Rekhta Foundation, have joined the efforts to save the library's heritage and digitise its rich texts

Once upon a time, this was a treasure trove. Now, a palace in ruins. Over 70,000 books at the heritage Iqbal library in Bhopal are rotting away due to neglect and a funds crunch. These books include rare works by stalwarts in Hindi, English, Urdu, Malayalam and Persian too. Also in the vast collection are seminal works of science, including books on engineering and medical science. About 80,000 books in the library were destroyed in the monsoon of 2017 and rainwater poured through the cracks in the run-down building.

Now, as books fight a losing war against screens, Iqbal Library is hoping for a miracle as some literary bodies race against time to save what they can from the decaying pages.

Set up by freedom fighter and public speaker Asif Shah in 1939, the library is named after Iqbal, the legendary poet whose works include the patriotic lines, Saare Jahan Se Accha Hindostaan Hamara, during the Freedom movement. Iqbal stayed in Pakistan after Partition and became its national poet. The library started in a small room in Bhopal's Lakherapura neighbourhood. In 2001, it shifted to Bhopal's Iqbal Maidan, its current address, in 2001. Located next to iconic monuments Moti Mahal, Shaukat Mahal and Sheesh Mahal, it is part of the city's storied past. Interestingly, it is at Sheesh Mahal where the last Nawab of Bhopal Hamidullah Khan once hosted Iqbal.

On a visit to the heritage library, NDTV found heaps of books on the floor. Many shelves have not survived the decay and the ones still standing cannot hold all the volumes.