Hyderabad, Augugst 05: A high profile delegation of the Archeological Survey of India, which included the Director General K N Srivastava visited the proposed golf course at the Naya Qila at Golconda Fort on Tuesday. Accompanying the team was Hyderabad District Collector Naveen Mittal, who jointly inspected the site, much to the ire of civil activists and conservationists in the city.
The reason for their discontent: The fact that no member of conservation groups were included in the inspection procedure.
Members of the People’s Union for Civil Action and Rights (PUCAAR) have revealed that none of the heritage conservation groups active in the issue of the Naya Qila debacle had received prior information regarding the visit to the Fort site, and as such there were no representatives from the NGOs apart from the government officials at the site.
M Mandal, a heritage conservationist and member of INTACH and Forum for a Better Hyderabad (FBH) said that “despite approaching the Superintendent of Archeology in Hyderabad, there had been no initiative from the administration site to include civil activists in the inspection tour on Tuesday, which is lamentable.” Mandal noted that the presence of conservationists would have bettered the chances of pointing out the extent of damage done to the Fort structure to the Director General, owing to the construction of the golf course by the Hyderabad Gold Association and the APTDC.
Members of heritage conservation groups like PUCAAR and FBH felt that “a high level site inspection of this scale should have included the citizenstakeholders of the heritage site.” Inquiring about the reason for discontent among the groups revealed a fear among conservationists that “any decision that might be taken in the light of Tuesday’s inspection could be detrimental to the structural integrity of the Fort, owing to the marked absence of public stakeholders.” Incidentally, conservation groups in the city had been rallying for including their members in the scheduled checks and meetings with officials, since they felt that the interests of “influential” bodies like the Hyderabad Golf Association could promote the golf course construction activities, the cost of which has to be borne by the heritage structures of the Naya Qila.
–Agencies–