HYDERABAD: For adventure sports enthusiasts and rock conservationists Sunday gave the right dose of thrill and pride as the 350-odd enthusiasts climbed the stunning rocks around the 400-year-old Khoe Khayam Qadeem, also known as Ghar-e-Mubarak Dargah at Bairagiguda (located behind Taramati Baradari).
The third edition of the Hyderabad Rockathon was jointly organised by the Great Hyderabad Adventure Club (GHAC), in partnership with the Society to Save Rocks and sponsored by the Telangana Tourism Department. The event highlighted the need for preservation of the over 2500 million years old Deccan Rockscapes.
The Society to Save Rocks considers these wonderful rocks formations the heritage of Hyderabad because of the many years of their existence and the uniqueness of their formations.
The Hyderabad Rockathon witnessed participants from all walks of life with children as young as six years of age participating in most of the fifteen activities--all of which were connected with rocks and adventure. The event was flagged off with a Rockwalk, after which the participants made a patient bee line for rappelling and zip lining. Participants then headed for activities like treasure hunt, rock quiz, photography, rock balancing and rock drawing.
Highlighting the need to sensitise the general population about the importance, preservation and protection of rocks that are a part of our ecosystem and play a very important role in ground water level preservation and are home to many flora and fauna in nature, Frauke Quader, secretary, Society to Save Rocks said, “These rock formations are so beautiful that they can be conserved for future generations by making the hHeritage precincts and few other remaining rock formations in and around Hyderabad into rock parks which would provide the citizens good opportunities for adventure and fun activities.”
Diyanat Ali, founder of GHAC rued that these beautiful ancient formations are being destroyed in the name of development. “Development is important but we should save the unique rocks formations in the city for the future generations and for adventure and recreation activities. We can plant trees but we cannot grow back rocks,” he added.