HYDERABAD: The Society to Save Rocks launched an online petition campaign, making an appeal to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and heads of eight government departments to save the 2,500 million-year-old granite rock formations of Fakhruddin Gutta in Poppalguda village near Gachibowli from destruction.
According to the petition, the site is not only of great archaeological importance but also forms part of Deccan heritage and is considered a holy place by both Muslims and Hindus as the tomb of Baba Fakhruddin Aualia and a 800-year-old Anantha Padmanabha Swamy temple were built here in the medieval period. Meher Baba, a saint, had found the place so enchanting that he meditated for 11 days in 1951 at Manonash cave.
In May 2019, the Society to Save Rocks had filed a PIL, stating that the prehistoric rock formations were being destroyed and sought inclusion of all the heritage rocks around Hyderabad, especially the Fakhruddin hillock in the list of protected heritage rocks as per the previous GOs issued under the Telangana Heritage Act, 2018. The organisation had alleged that a major area covered by massive artistic rocks lying in the middle of the site, registered as a private property, was being blasted even as 6,663 petitioners signed the petition online by Tuesday evening.
The society said that the unique nature of the rock formations could be used to promote adventure activities, including hiking, trekking and rock-climbing and urged the government to develop Fakhruddin Gutta into a rock, nature and adventure park for the benefits of both local residents and visitors.