As Hyderabad’s heritage appears to tumble from one disaster to another, activists say absence of robust systems is hurting the city. Nearly a year after the High Court judgement on the Irrum Manzil case, the city still does not have a heritage conservation committee (HCC).
The Urban Areas Act stipulates that “the Government shall constitute an Urban Art Commission” to preserve and conserve historical monuments and sites. Instead, Hyderabad had been making do with an heritage conservation committee till 2013. The court had in its September 16 judgement noted: “Regulation 13 of the Zonal Regulations, 1981 was framed under Section 59 of the Urban Areas Act. Hence, Regulation 13 of the Zonal Regulations, 1981 furthers one of the goals of the Urban Areas Act.”
Hopscotch attempt
But there has been no progress. The result has been a hopscotch attempt towards preserving heritage buildings with a pick-and-choose policy. While the City College, Moazzam Jahi Market, Mecca Masjid, Mahbub Chowk Clock Tower, Residency building and a few other heritage sites are being restored/conserved, a majority of listed heritage sites including the Osmania General Hospital, Osmania University Arts College building, and others have been ignored.
“Heritage is about continuity and a pattern. We cannot have conservation without systems and order. There has to be a guiding principle for all the civic actions with regard to heritage,” says Anuradha Reddy of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage.
“A heritage committee would ensure that some minimum common standards are followed in a city which has so much heritage. If the heritage conservation committee was re-constituted, it would have had a role in the restoration of Moazzam Jahi Market. We don’t know who was involved. The result you can see,” says Sajjad Shahid, a chronicler of Hyderabad and its heritage.
“Heritage conservation is guided by a comprehensive management plan (CMP) that helps the custodians of building about the various dos and don’ts,” informs Mr. Shahid. For the MJ Market the executors of the restoration have a two-year Defects Liability Period (DLP) which will kick in once the restoration is completed.
The DLP is jargon where the contractor of the building is responsible for fixing at his cost any defects arising from the construction flaws. “Once the two-year period is over the upkeep of the building will be the responsibility of the GHMC. The CPWD has clear guidelines about such maintenance,” says K. Raj Kumar of Dhrumataru Consultants that is executing the MJ Market restoration.
“The ceiling of MJ Market has seven layers and we completed five layers when it was inaugurated. The lime mortar and lime punning layer are yet to be finished that led to the leakage. We are also looking at small seepage issues at other places,” says Mr. Kumar about the MJ Market restoration.