The Dushanbe mayor’s office has not made decision on demolition of the Rohat Chaikhana (teahouse); moreover, its facade has been restored recently.
“The Dushanbe mayor’s office has not made any decision on demolition of the Rohat Chaikhana and the Tajik Academic Theatre named after Abulqosim Lohouti,” the first deputy mayor of Dushanbe, Mahmadsaid Zuvaydzoda, told reporters in Dushanbe on July 27.
“We have not received any instruction from the government on this subject and the mayor’s office has not made any decisions,” said Zuvaydzoda. “The chaikhana and the theater are working and we recently helped restore the chaikhana facade.”
According to him, if a decision is made on demolition of those buildings, a special government commission will be set up that will make its opinion.
“Such a commission has not yet been set up and even there are no talks about this,” Zuvaydzoda added.
Recall, CNN in February 2017 listed the Rohat chaikhana (teahouse) located in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, among eleven of the world’s best teahouses.
Literally translated chaikhana means "teahouse," and they can be found all over Tajikistan. Folks — mainly men — once gathered inside chaikhana for discussions, but these days they're a place for anyone to socialize over a cup of tea.
The ornate Rohat in Dushanbe is one of the finest places to lounge and sip tea while enjoying city views, according to CNN.
Meanwhile, the Rohat teahouse has not been inscribed on the list of sites of historical and architectural significance in Dushanbe. Sherali Khojayev, chief specialist with the Ministry of Culture Department for Protection of Historical and Cultural Heritage, told Asia-Plus on April 25, 2016 that only four sites in Dushanbe are considered to be of historical and architectural significance, namely the building of the Opera and Ballet Theater, the building of the Parliament, the Ismoili Somoni Memorial Complex (1999), and the Ancient Settlement of Dushanbe (3rd Century BC)
Demolition of historical buildings in Dushanbe began several years ago and the first was the building of the Main Post Office.
Plans to demolish some of the most popular landmarks in Dushanbe have sparked outrage. In a desperate bid to halt the destruction, hundreds of city residents in October 2015 signed an online petition addressed to president and Dushanbe mayor. The petition drew more than 600 signatures in the first day alone.
Reacting to a wave of Internet grumbling, Nourali Saidzoda, the first deputy head of the Committee for Construction and Architecture under the Government of Tajikistan, told Asia-Plus that time that the buildings selected for demolition were of negligible value and needed replacing with modern hi-tech substitutes.
The authorities then demolished the Mayakovsky Russian Drama Theater and Jomi Movie Theater. Recall, the founding of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic was declared at the Mayakovsky Theater in 1929.
