On Thursday, a biker was stopped from going up the hillock by the Raidurgam police. One of the bikers later posted what transpired on social media. “While we were exploring the area, we were stopped by two police officers. They requested to take a photo of me with my bike and asked for some additional details to input into their tablet. I must admit, I’m not entirely sure why they did this, as I was simply exploring the city with my friends. They said the court would call me,” wrote the user on Reddit.
Other users shared similar experiences at the place.
However, when asked about the episode, a Cyberabad police official said there is no restriction on movement of vehicles and people for going up the hillock.
Meanwhile, the outlines of the protected boundary for the 2.5 billion-year-old Khajaguda rock precinct are set to be demarcated as the Telangana Revenue Department will begin work on August 1. “We will carry out the survey of the extent of the area from August 1,” a Revenue Department official said.
Days before the survey, a fresh trail of earthmovers laying a wide road was discovered on the Khajaguda hillock on Saturday by rock climbers.
The survey has been hanging fire since 2019 when the Telangana High Court ordered a stay on further destruction.
In February 2022, MA&UD Minister K.T. Rama Rao tweeted and Special Chief Secretary Arvind Kumar ordered a survey to mark the boundaries of the protected site under the High Court ruling. However, 18 months later, no survey has been done.
“They want to turn it into Panjagutta Junction where the rock will disappear behind buildings, offices and malls. Last week, Revenue and police officials came in strength to help a builder to flatten the area. They claimed on record that survey was already done and land belonged to a private hotelier and no court orders applied to the owner,” said Anant Maringanti of Hyderabad Urban Labs after he learnt about the development.
“They did a survey for the road that was faulty and not executed properly. A 16th century mandpam was razed and neither the HMDA nor the temple authorities were aware of it. Now, a wide road has been laid and the destruction of the rocks has not stopped,” said Arun Vasireddy, a rock climber and activist.
Recently, a builder deployed an earthmover to flatten the land claiming that it belonged to him.
“The small patch is an Inam land. It is a heritage site and part of public land. It has not been regularised and there is no Encumbrance Certificate. No activity can be done by the builder. The HMDA is the owner and they should protect it,” said Mr. Vasireddy who is privy to the suit filed by the Society to Save Rocks.
Incidentally, according to Ritwik Reddy, the Ranga Reddy District Collector in his counter filed in the HC on July 19, 2019, had stated that the government owned all the land.
“It is further submitted that there is no mention in the revenue records about any heritage or land held by the said Dargah, Padmanabha Swamy temple or Meher Baba Temple. As the land in question is government land, the government is the owner and possessor of the land,” says the counter filed by the government official.
