426 year old heritage lost to urbanisation

Hyderabad: Hyderabad’s 426 years of history is being crushed in the name of urban development with landmarks being pulled down one after the other, say experts. The latest on the list being the 70-year-old Garden restaurant and St. Thomas SPG Cathedral, behind Alfa Hotel, near Secunderabad Railway Station.Participation of stakeholders is essential in the proper administration of a city. The government considers involving stakeholders in the decision making process an exercise in futility.

It has become extremely difficult for civic groups to put up any significant resistance to such blatant disregard for their culture and heritage, said experts. The need for impositions like the Metro Rail project, expressways and flyovers on the urban landscape derives from improper planning and goes against the development of Hyderabad.

The unplanned overexpansion due to rural migrations is leading to congestion, insufficient water, infrastructure and huge pressure on the city.But no government till date has done a proper environmental impact assessment or a heritage impact assessment, which has led to the present situation.

Heritage expert Anuradha Naik said, “The planning needs to be done in a proper manner, keeping in mind the long term vision and not forgetting the characters of the city. Modernis-ation is important, however, not at the cost of pulling down what Hyderabad is known for.”