Telangana to HC: No heritage tag for Irrum Manzil

HYDERABAD: In a counter affidavit filed in Telangana high court on the status of Irrum Manzil, the Telangana government has claimed before the HC that the palace was not a heritage structure, but stopped short of saying whether they would demolish the over 150-year-old building to build a new state Assembly.
Sunil Sharma, principal secretary (roads & buildings), filed the state’s counter in response to a batch of petitions challenging the proposed demolition of the ancient palace as well as questioning the need for a new legislative complex. The state’s silence on demolition has been intriguing because most contentions, if not all, raised by petitioners centred around the heritage value of Irrum Manzil and even the bench headed by Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan had sought specific replies on this issue. A counsel representing one of the petitioners had even gone to the extent of saying that he wouldn’t have any grievance if the palace was kept intact and the state raised a complex next to it.
The state’s affidavit was expected to bring some clarity on the matter, but the authorities chose to remain mum again.
On the heritage aspect, the affidavit said that certain buildings in Hyderabad were notified as heritage structures in 1998 under HUDA zoning regulation 13. But these regulations contain no provision to conserve heritage structures, the state said. Some of these buildings had become a threat public safety and, hence, Sharma said that in 2015 the government re-examined regulation 13 and saw that there was no substantive provision dealing with the conservation of heritage structures in the Urban Areas (Development) Act, 1975.
“Hence this regulation 13 was deleted with effect from its date of inception,” Sharma said, adding that it was notified through GO Ms No 183 issued on Dec 7, 2015. “As a result of this GO, all the earlier orders issued in the past under regulation 13 have become null and void,” he said. The R&B chief also made it clear that they need not obtain permission of the Heritage Conservation Committee to raze any such structure now.
Sharma also spoke about inadequate facilities at the present Assembly building and claimed the current Council hall was unsafe. “Hence the Cabinet took a decision to have an integrated legislative complex at Irrum Manzil area,” he said.
Apart from asserting that policy decisions should not be interfered with, the principal secretary also said that the petitioners have no locus standi to raise objections over these matters.