City heritage in utter neglect

HYDERABAD: Hyderabad’s heritage is lying in sheer neglect. According to data complied by civil society groups, about 60 historic buildings of the city are awaiting notification from the heritage conservation committee, for more than five years now. Even restoration work of several listed heritage structures are yet to take off. This, despite repeated requests made to various government bodies by heritage conservationists over all these years.Activists now fear that such negligence might further dampen Hyderabad’s already deteriorating heritage value.
As per the rule book, a heritage structure becomes a ‘protected’ monument, once it is notified. This ensures that the monument is restored and either the owner of the building or a government body is made responsible for its upkeep. “This, in most cases, saves the monument from being pulled down,” said a heritage expert.
From the chest hospital building in Erragadda and the several decades-old state Assembly building to the ‘Pardah’ gate of the King Koti Palace — once the Nizam’s personal residence — all feature on the list of structures that have been under consideration for notification.
“Members of the board have discussed the issue at several committee meetings and in some cases they have even completed inspection of the sites. Yet, no concrete decision has been taken so far,” said Veda Kumar of Forum for a Better Hyderabad adding, “When the first lot of 137 monuments were notified in 1998 it was a smooth process. Since then the committee has been lax. This time around, the work is taking painfully long.” Heritage lovers like Veda Kumar fear that if no action is immediately taken to protect these historic structures, the city will lose more of its heritage in no time.
Though members of the conservation committee do not dispute the charge, they argue that the body is at present working towards disposing pending notifications. “The committee has been out of action for over a year. Now that it has been constituted again, it will sure look into the matter soon,” said Sajjad Shahid, a city-historian and member of the group. He was, however, quick to add that the committee is only an advisory body to the government with limited powers. “It does not have the authority to implement a decision, so it is not correct to expect too much of it,” he said.
B Narsing Rao, former member of the conservation committee agrees with Shahid. According to Rao, who has been a member for two terms, the committee receives little support from other government bodies like the municipal corporation, that affects its functioning. “Neither are we given enough funds and nor do we get the help of other departments in our work. It is difficult for the body to function in such a set up,” Rao said.
Meanwhile, heritage lovers feel that the solution for conserving Hyderabad’s heritage does not lie in notifying these monuments alone. They say that early restoration of the dilapidated structures is equally important. Unfortunately, the concerned bodies have paid no heed to that either, they rue. Among the several listed heritage structures that are, for long, awaiting restoration are the Nampally Sarai (opposite the Nampally railway station), the old Jail khana in Monda Market and the Moazzam Jahi market.
“There is an absolute absence of will on the part of the concerned bodies to maintain these heritage monuments,” said Usha Turaga, a heritage enthusiast dismissing arguments about the government being cash-strapped.