HYDERABAD: At a time when Hyderabad, a city steeped in history, is rapidly losing its heritage buildings to ‘development’, the TRS government’s Telangana Heritage Act had come as a relief to heritage aficionados. However, as the State inches towards elections, the Act and its provisions unfortunately still remain on paper. Though heritage committees at State, district and city levels have been formed as prescribed under the Heritage Act, they are yet to exercise its functions.
For instance, the Telangana State Heritage Authority (TSHA) is empowered to set up museums and conduct excavations. However, no such initiatives have been taken up yet. The TSHA is also supposed to facilitate restoration and as well as advise the government on heritage matters. None of these functions have been exercised as well.
The officials resort to passing the buck to others and absolving themselves of any responsibility. NR Visalatchy, the director of Heritage Telangana, told Express, “After receiving a gazette notification in October last year, I sent a proposal to the Secretary of the Department of Culture for his approval. I am waiting for the approval before exercising the functions of the heritage committees.”
It is important to mention that the post of Director of Heritage Telangana came into being after the bill was passed in the Assembly. “The Director of Department of Archaeology and Heritage is hereby known as the Director of Heritage Telangana,” the law states. As the Director, Visalatchy is the implementing authority of the act.
Burra Venkatesham, the Secretary to Government of Telangana Youth Advancement, Tourism & Culture Department, told Express, “In the TSHA, the state government is supposed to appoint two heritage/archaeology/history experts into TSHA. They are yet to be appointed. However, that does not mean that the Director should wait for my approval to function. She is the implementing authority.”
Meanwhile, other officials claimed that they did not even have knowledge of the law or the heritage committees. An official, who is to be the member of TSHA, when contacted said, "This is the first time I am hearing about the law. This is very ambitious and it should be implemented thoroughly."
On Friday, a Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) source said a meeting was arranged with the Director of Heritage Telangana for next week, in which the future-course of the law and its implementation would be taken up.
However, as the debate goes on behind the implementation of the act and the bucks are passed onto other officials, the conditions of several heritage structures within the city continue to deteriorate. P Anuradha Reddy, convenor of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), said, "The law in itself is flawed. It was passed in the Assembly without any discussion. I am not surprised that there has been no implementation. Neither did the previous government care about heritage, nor does the present dispensation."