Hyderabad: The stay order on GO (government order) 183 by the Telangana high court came as good news to heritage activists in the city earlier this week, which made the the XXI INTACH Heritage Awards all the more jubilant.
The government of Telangana on December 7, 2015, issued GO 183 which struck down the protection given to about 160 buildings, rock formations, and some precincts, leaving them vulnerable to damage and destruction.
Hans India reported that the awards were given away to six recipients along with a citation including Osmania University College for Women, Koti for restoring the Doll House on its campus.
The stay order came on a day when the heritage awards were being given and it warmed hearts of one and all, stated P Anuradha Reddy, convener of INTACH, Hyderabad chapter. She further hoped that the heritage, both tangible and intangible, was protected for posterity.
“Many of us believed that after the creation of Telangana State, they would usher in an era of liberty but Hyderabad took a turn for the worse,” Sajjad Shahid co-convener of INTACH Hyderabad chapter said.
He further added that even though, in a recent announcement, the Health Minister was quoted assuring that the government had now abandoned its nefarious plan of demolishing the Osmania General Hospital, the Chief Minister himself has till date not spoken on the matter.”
One of the oldest Unani manufacturing units, the Kharkhana Zinda Tillismath located in Amberpet, established by Hakeem Mohammed Moizuddin Farooqui in 1920 was given the award for its associational value as the birthplace of Hyderabad’s very own magic potion and as a memorial to the legacy of Hakeem Farooqui.