Hyderabad: Activists put up boards to Save Khajaguda hills, cite HC order

Hyderabad: Activists have set up display boards in English and Telugu at the heritage site of Khajaguda Hills on Sunday citing the order of the Telangana High Court from 2019. They will also soon be filing a contempt of court against the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
Activists and citizen groups organized a protest early on Sunday morning and spoke about the challenges against the conservation efforts and also about the efforts required to bring a permanent solution to the matter.
Concerned Citizens and Activist groups organized a protest against destruction and encroachment activities at the Khajaguda site. Photo: PN Sree Harsha.
“Survey Numbers 450/1, 450/2, 448, 452, are protected sites as per Telangana High Court stay order PIL No.51/2019. Any disturbance to any rock, hill by cutting rocks or dumping will be held as contempt of the court. The Person carrying out the activity and the instigators are punishable by law. Khajaguda is a place for nature, peaceful brotherhood of three faiths, adventure sports, tranquillity, and photography only,” the boards read.
Also Read Hyderabad: Destruction of rocks at Khajaguda continues under HMDA’s nose When the activists were in the process of placing the boards at locations that were prone to destruction in the past, the temple authorities questioned them. Heated conversations followed for close to an hour. Arun from the Save Khajaguda group explained the High Court order to them and everybody, in the end, agreed that the rocks should be protected and the temple authorities also took part in the protest.
Activist Arun explaining the High Court Order to the temple authorities (pic1). Later they participated in the protest to save the Khajaguda site (Pic 2). Photos: PN Sree Harsha.
Anant Mariganti, who heads the Hyderabad Urban Lab, an organization that conducts urban research and community engagement activities, addressed the protest and explained the ecological significance of the rocks.
“The Temple, The Dargah, The Rock Climbers, The Walkers, and the conservationists should all come together because it holds extreme importance to all of us. We have already lost quite a number of such hills due to real estate and ‘development’ activities. If a rock moves, a bird loses its nest, honeybees lose their habitat. The water moves away and the plants die. You cannot cut down a wild parijatham plant (jasmine) in the forest and then nurse a rose plant in its place,” he said.