HYDERABAD: Dumpers, trucks and other heavy equipment have replaced the way from Hyderabad Knowledge City to Biodiversity Junction with a picturesque cliff corridor. Now open for pubic, a new link road is spectacular and boulder-lined. It cuts through an over 60ft high cliff face. Around 300 metre-long, it tears its way through cliffs in Hyderabad’s IT corridor. It was chiselled and hammered out in the last three years to bypass the Biodiversity junction for traffic towards Khajaguda, Shaikpet.
“It’s a picturesque beauty. Until a few months ago, it was a secluded hotspot for photographers looking for a scenic backdrop for photoshoots in the city,” says Pruthvi Choudhary, photographer and project manager at a private health firm. He, who is also a frequenter of the road, added: “Whenever I cross paths with someone, we start to discuss the rocks. I have seen the HITEC city grow over the years and have followed the construction of the link road ever since the chiselling began.”
“A rock once chiselled in HITEC city made the HITEC city. It is difficult to stop destruction there, but it makes me sad. One of the saddest landscapes in the city can be viewed from the back gate of MANUU, which overlooks this hillock. It was huge,” says Sangeeta from Society to Save Rocks; she is unhappy about it and has difficulty adjusting to the destruction of rocks.
The road is grey, the chiselled cliff showcases the topography of an abstract sculpture, and atop is greenery, which is lush. “Taking this road feels like a pass-through a sepia film; away from the tall buildings. Trranscending through the cliff is a feeling hard to describe,” says Solomon Paul, who works as a coder at a private firm. “It surely makes us feel something that is not thought in the Khajaguda rockscape, where most rocks are intact. The chiselled rocks have a beauty of their own. The only thing is, this link road has the highest number of rumble strips which make the shortcut (that saves me a km of the drive) bouncy,” he adds.
“The Deccan plateau is enriched with ancient rock formations that became part of the region’s cultural fabric. Rocks are imbibed in the culture of Hyderabad. It is unfortunate to witness the destruction of the million-year-old natural heritage of the city in the name of development. That being said, beyond the aesthetics, rocks have geological and ecological significance too. We must integrate development plans with environmental sustainability,” says Assistant Professor Adnan Uddin, who is actively engaged in saving the rocks and promotes trekking.
At the very least, this link road promises to change the exit way of Hyderabad’s IT corridor, reminding each one of us of the geology it is built on. CE speaks to Save The Rock Society about heritage, besides the residents and employees in the IT corridor, about the importance and beauty of the cliff road