The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Meeting planned on Musi flood centenary

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Meeting planned on Musi flood centenary

Special Correspondent

Memorial meet on Sept. 28 at the famous tamarind tree

Heritage walk also planned on September 28
City’s heritage has fallen prey to haphazard planning

Hyderabad: As the centenary of the great Musi floods is drawing near, there is a sense of despair and frustration among concerned Hyderabadis that things are back to square one. Conditions that prevailed at the time of floods in 1908 have come to haunt the city today. Nadeem Colony is a classic example of misplaced urban planning.

An effort is on by Centre for Deccan Studies, Forum for Better Hyderabad, MESCO, COVA and others to focus on the total failure of urban planning leading to the present chaotic conditions. Members of these organisations have decided to hold a memorial meeting on September 28 under the famous tamarind tree in the Osmania General Hospital which saved several lives. The meeting will not just pay homage to the victims but also to the extraordinary resilience of Hyderabadis in overcoming their losses and rebuilding the city. A heritage walk is planned that day which will demand the government to declare as protected the important facets of natural heritage like the tamarind tree, plaques fixed on buildings and monuments showing the high flood level, the Musi embankment, Himayatsagar and Osmansagar lakes.

“Worse off”

At a meeting held at the Urdu Hall here on Saturday, speakers expressed anguish at the gradual degeneration of the infrastructure. “Today we are worse off than 1908. Slums of those days were much better than today’s colonies. It is a total failure of urban planning,” said Sajjad Shahid, secretary, Centre for Deccan Studies. He recalled how the city’s heritage had fallen prey to haphazard planning. Sir Visvesvaraya, who did the post Musi flood planning, didn’t respect heritage as much as he should have. Subsequent planners also played havoc with the lifestyle and architecture of Hyderabad with the result the city’s identity is lost. This he blamed on non involvement of stakeholders in the planning.

“We are too mild, too Hyderabadi. There is need to launch a public movement and challenge the government”, said Mr. Shahid.

M. Ved Kumar, president, Forum for Better Hyderabad and V.K. Bawa, also spoke.

The meeting proposed to hold deliberations on various aspects such as water management, heritage, slums and housing, transportation, planning, administration and environment during the next three months as a prelude to formation of the Musi charter with tangible plan of action.

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