These tumbled rock-piles grim and red,
These reckless heaven-ambitious peaks,
These gorges, turbulent-clear streams, this naked freshness,
These formless wild arrays, for reasons of their own
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
The northern side of Durgam Cheruvu has been history for a long time. Now the western side is going the same way, thanks to a spider web of new roads that are girdling the lake on that side that will bring rings of office blocks, shopping establishments that will have stunning views of the lake. But a part of Hyderabad's history will be wiped away.
This is not all, a ropeway is sought to be constructed to have a bird's eye view of the lake at a cost of Rs. 4 crore. On Tuesday afternoon, a walk on the edge of the lake that used to supply drinking water to Golconda Fort proved to be a nightmare of smells ranging from one of fresh defecation to the chemical odour of hydrogen sulphide. The drive on the road that brings one to the western edge of the lake with a metal railing gives a glimpse of the lake: A green pool of water fringed with trees and rocks, echoing bird calls and an occasional white crane flying slowly. Once the offices come, this view will be lost.
A Google map shows the plots that have been created for development by Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation. Right now the roads are being used as parking space for buses used by IT companies.
A drive on the road is a gut-wrenching experience for anyone who has moved about the area.
We spot a couple, an elderly woman and a young man get out of the car and walk to the edge of the road. The man does all the motions that we usually see on the edge of the road but he fishes out a camera and raises it to his head level and clicks. Soon, this will be a taboo. We try to click a photograph of one of the brick-coloured building and a security guard comes scrambling to ask a series of inane questions.
At an earlier interaction, Frauka Quader of Society to Save Rocks had said: “The price of development should not be heritage. But the government too has to weigh livelihoods with development. I don't know where we can draw a line.”
Another heritage activist says: “We can build a building but if we destroy this we will not be able to rebuild. Once this heritage is lost it cannot be retrieved. Why don't the government officials understand this,” he says.
“We are fighting a losing battle and I don't want to associate my name with a cause where I know the result,” he says. “There is no end to this destruction. When we approach courts against these illegal activities, the Government officials of various departments are delighted as they can then bargain with the violators to get more.
"It was in May 2000 that the government issued orders to demarcate the remaining lakes so that they can be protected. This included Full Tank Level and then a 30-metre buffer zone. Forget the buffer zone, they are building structures inside the lakes,” says S. Jeevananda Reddy of Forum for Better Hyderabad.
