It was a mixed bag for the State in terms of its tangible and intangible heritage identification, conservation and preservation.
The Telangana Heritage (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Maintenance) Act-2017 encourages identification of heritage structures and precincts at the district level.
But several months after the Act became a reality after a gazette notification was issued in May, the constitution of these District-Level Committees (DLC) remains an unfinished task.
With the district collector as its chairperson, the DLC is entrusted with populating the heritage lists. And with the scrapping of Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority’s regulation 13, over 120 heritage structures such as the Homeopathy Hospital, the heritage valley at Banjara Hills, the construction site for the sprawling police command and control centre, continue to remain unprotected from the demolition crew’s wrecking ball.
Furthermore, the Telangana State Heritage Authority, which is to have civil servants led by the Chief Secretary, too has not been fully constituted.
But while the prospects of unlisted heritage structures seem bleak, there are some positives.
After crying for attention for many years, conservation work at the Mecca Masjid complex has finally begun, but not before the chunks of plaster gave way. Its conservation was briefly politicised with the Congress and other parties and organisations on one side and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen being on the other. But after the dust settled, one of the agendas is to strengthen the roof and burjs , among other work.
Conservation of one of the tallest tombs in the country, the Dargah Hazrat Shah Raju Qattal near Fateh Darwaza, is on the cards too. A recent field study commissioned by the Department of Archaeology and Museums would explore the methods to preserve the great tomb.
With the extension of the memorandum of understanding between the Archaeology Department and Aga Khan entities, the former is seeking the conservation of the Badshahi Ashoorkhana, one of the earliest structures of the Qutb Shahi period.
