A wake-up call to protect the past in Telangana

According to the Hijri calendar, Charminar turned 444 years old on Sunday. Heritage walk, photo exhibition and lectures were organized on the occasion. But despite Hyderabad being a historic city, its built and natural heritage is under threat from the state government and the real estate lobby. With its heritage in danger, the fabric and identity of the city are being erased. While the Central Vista project in New Delhi and the Kashi Vishwanath Temple corridor project in Varanasi attracted public attention, Telangana’s experiments with heritage have escaped scrutiny.

Hyderabad was the second city in the country after Bombay to have city-specific inheritance and zoning laws. In 1995, Regulation 13 was added to the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority Zoning Regulations for the purpose of protection of buildings, artifacts, structures and premises of historical, aesthetic, architectural and cultural value. The Heritage Conservation Committee was given the duty of identifying “heritage buildings” that were in need of government protection. A total of 151 buildings have been identified and notified as per importance.

But in 2017, on the issue of territorial pride, the state government brought the Telangana Heritage (Preservation, Conservation, Protection and Maintenance) Act, three years after the creation of Telangana. Instead of creating a protocol to protect the state’s heritage, the new law removed the protection of almost all heritage sites in Telangana. Finally, the Telangana High Court had to step in when the state government wanted to demolish a Nawab’s 150-year-old palace for the construction of the new state legislative assembly. The court ruled against abolishing Regulation 13 and canceled plans to demolish the palace. The court said, “It is an imperative duty of the state to preserve those heritage buildings which contribute to the culture and sense of identity of the city. The state cannot afford the luxury of forgetting that the destruction of a heritage building would strip away the essence of the identity of its people, and deprive the city of its sense of uniqueness. While it is important to plan for the future, it is equally important to protect, preserve and promote the past. ,

While the onus may be on the state to protect the city’s heritage, a complex web of ownership and stakeholders is proving additional challenges in preserving what is left. Recently, the new owners of the King Kothi Palace brought down parts of the structure before the city authorities stepped in to prevent the destruction of the Baroque-Gothic home of the last Nizam, Osman Ali Khan. The former residence of poet and freedom fighter Sarojini Naidu, which needs protection, is under the jurisdiction of the University of Hyderabad. In the absence of land-ownership records with the Revenue Department, the outer areas of the Golconda Fort have become covered with encroachments.

But there is hope. After the 13th century Ramappa temple at Palampet was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2021, the state appeared to be doing its job together. It recently notified the creation of state and city-level heritage conservation committees. The residency building has been restored and is now open to visitors at a small cost. The Qutb Shahi tombs are being restored by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. The government is expected to spend Rs 560 crore to restore the nearly a century-old Osmania General Hospital on the banks of the Musi river and to build a new health section. This is a far cry from the time when politicians demanded that the 1920 Vincent Eich building be demolished to the ground to make way for a new hospital. Is Telangana ready to protect and cherish its heritage? These are early signs.

serish.n@thehindu.co.in