The city laments

15 percent of the 140 heritage buildings in Hyderabad alone are on the verge of collapse and need urgent restoration. Preserving the rare and bringing down weakened structures are both the responsibilities that have to be taken up through timely action and proper planning

Aruna Ravikumar

The long winding driveway leads to the majestic building with red bricks in stark contrast to the adjoining structure with a semi circular balcony supported by black pillars. Wrought iron lamp posts with their old world charm are placed at strategic points in the huge garden which bursts into life in the monsoon as nature ushers in greenery that the caretakers can’t really afford to. Frangipani, flame of the forest and several huge fruit and flower bearing trees, the wild grass dotted with lazy yellow flowers that look like a natural bouquet on the ground, cuckoos and birds that can be seen in the natural wilderness fill your heart.

I take in this picturesque sight from the comfort of my flat with great happiness each morning lapping in every moment while it lasts. The house belongs to a noted writer and social worker who is no more and is supposed to have been visited by many dignitaries in its days of glory. It is every bit a heritage building that needs to be valued, preserved, protected and cherished. I know like everyone else does though, that the day is not far off when the property dispute between the heirs will be resolved and the area sold off to greedy builders who will fill every inch of land with ugly glass and concrete.

Another beautiful structure will be consigned to the pages of history never to be replicated in its original glory and grandeur and join the list of hundreds of others given a silent burial. I recall another beautiful structure called the Malwala palace in the old city which had unique rosewood doors embedded with precious stones and other antique pieces which had several heirs. The palace was looted and plundered of its wealth and we had albeit temporarily stopped the demolition of the building due to media coverage. I have no doubt at all that the demolition would have been carried out at a later stage.

Short sighted policies, vested interests and lack of political will leave little scope for anything else but nostalgia with 15 percent of the 140 heritage buildings in Hyderabad alone on the verge of collapse and needing urgent restoration. We would do well to remember the words of the architect Shankland Graeme… “A country without a past has the emptiness of a barren continent and a city without old buildings is like a man without a memory”

Now look at the case of old buildings that have outlived their utility and are ready to cave in like a pack of cards. It is the same lack of political will that has become a very obvious trait of governance that has several dilapidated buildings in shambles threatening to bury many an unsuspecting person underneath its weak walls. The muffled voices of help coming from unsuspecting victims buried beneath debris are a blot on society and governments that makes false claims of progress at every available forum.

The recent collapse of the city light hotel where several poor people were buried alive should stir the conscience of all those who stand and speak endlessly on development. Preserving the rare and bringing down weakened structures on the verge of collapse are both responsibilities that have to be taken up through timely action and proper planning. Given the present scenario such expectations are nothing but a mirage. Governance has for a long time now ceased to be a proactive and dynamic process.

It is more about disaster management and political gains that accrue from any tragedy. Steeped as they are in divisiveness and corruption those in power are busy trying to cover the cracks that threaten their own edifice and have neither the time nor the intention to look at mere stone and mortar.