HYDERABAD: Valuing heritage is the first step to protecting it. In a city like Hyderabad, where thousands of years of history stands juxtaposed to everyday life of the people, the role of heritage conservation organisations like the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), have the added responsibility of instilling a sense of heritage value in the public mind.
Every day, the Hyderabad chapter of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) serves numerous notices to encroachers of the heritage land around the Charminar, Golconda Fort and the Warangal Fort. Only to receive most of them back, the very same day.
These notices are sent to all those residing within 300 meters of the perimeter of Charminar, Golconda Fort and Warangal Fort. They are usually against taking up illegal constructions in these areas restricted under The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958.
Speaking to Express, ASI-Hyderabad Superintendent Archaeologist, Milan Kumar Chauley, said, “When the postman goes to deliver the notice, the residents shoo him away and the letter is returned back to the office. There have been instances when I have had to redirect the letter to the local in-charge, who have then gone to these residences, in the dead of the night, to paste the notices on the residents’ doors and then also taken a picture of the same, as proof of its delivery.”
The compounding issue in the matter is to identify the owner of the land parcel, at any point in time. “Firstly, it is hard to know who the owner of the land is because when someone encroaches it, they sell it to someone else as and when they realise something is wrong. The names keep on changing,” he says,
“Secondly, it is the people who complain against neighbours, for personal reasons.” Highlighting a unique problem with the Charminar area, he says, sometimes residents take construction works from the inside of the building. “So it is not possible to identify the construction when it is underway. Soon, there would be a new building in front of you, leaving everyone scratching their heads,” he says.
In order to procure the World Heritage Site tag for the Golconda Fort and Qutub Shahi tombs -- as part of the ‘Monuments of the Deccan Sultanate’ nomination -- officials will have to deal with the encroachment issue tactfully. They opine that a policy needs to be framed for providing compensation to encroachers if they are shifted somewhere else.