Cinema city okay, but protect heritage: Activists

Hyderabad: The proposal of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to set up a Cinema City at Rachakonda has been welcomed even by conservationists and social activists but they want KCR to see that a heritage film city comes up at the venue. They also demand that a State-level committee be set up before zeroing on the location for the Cinema City and that the committee should include national level conservation experts.

This they say is important since there are several temples, bazaars and tunnels that are underground. The site should be excavated, protected and a dossier be published to claim for world heritage site The natural streams on top of the hills, pre-historic paintings in the caves, wildlife and the greenery should also be protected.

M Veda Kumar, chairman, Telangana Resource Centre (TRC) said that a cinema city is a welcome development but the Telangana government has to make sure that the historical site be surveyed, excavated and protected. He further adds, “Rachakonda is as beautiful as Hampi and has all the credentials to be declared as a world heritage site. The cinema city can come up without defacing the fort, temples and the eco-system.”

Rachakonda was ruled by Padmanayakas in the early 14th century after the end of the Kakatiya dynasty and was the capital for more than 100 years. Several temples, natural streams, washermen tunnels, potters area, caves and complexes are spread over the hills.

Dr Dyvanapalli Satyanarayana, a historian says, “Rachakonda is the soul of Telangana. There are about 100 temples in the hill range and the pre-historic paintings that date back to over 10,000 years look as if they were painted just yesterday. Such is the richness of Rachakonda. But the people living in the thandas need to be protected as they live in harmony with nature.”

There are about half a dozen tribal settlements that have been given lavani pattas (temporary pattas). Rachakonda hills have 2,200 acres of patta land, 2,000 acres of assigned/ceiling land, 600 acres of government land and 400 acres of vacant hillocks and ten acres of other lands.

Prof Jayadeer Tirumal Rao, visiting professor at Hyderabad Central University said that the government always promised that the people would not be affected as we had seen in the cases of several Special Economic Zones (SEZ). It would be a better proposition to position Rachakonda as a world heritage site as the structures date back to 14th century.

Meanwhile the Chief Minister made an aerial survey of the area and decided to construct a cinema city and sports city. About 31,000 acre land is available in Rachakonda, which has a historic fort and is a key tourist attraction. The area is already famous for shooting of Telugu films. The Chief Minister also said universities and other educational institutions should also come up in the area as it provided pollution-free environment for learning.