Skip to main content

Hyderabad's green areas in, around 'threatened' as concrete jungle expands

By Sudhansu R Das 

Nature had blessed Hyderabad with hundreds of lakes, hills, natural springs, a fine weather and vibrant villages on its periphery which worked as the state’s granary for several decades.  Today man has destroyed nature's gift due to its greed which can put the greedy demon king Ravana into shame.  The city has lost its sparkling crystal clear lakes which were built by the great Kakatiya kings and the Nizams in the past centuries. 
The breathing space, hills, artistic rock forest, hills, peacock population, rich flora and fauna, native trees with massive canopies, paddy fields and grape vines etc have disappeared.  The city was once filled with life which is now being replaced with lifeless objects of steel and concrete.  How to save this beautiful city which was known as the Queen of Decaan is the biggest challenge before the residents, judiciary, good political leaders, media, intellectuals and the youth etc.
The potential threat to the city is its expansion in all directions. Over the years the city has grown beyond its limit and it is impossible to manage its growth with the available man power, machines, skills and efficiency level.  Air pollution, depletion of groundwater, contamination of lakes, destruction of native trees with huge canopies, errand real estate growth, destruction of granaries around the city, unreliable transportation system, pot holes filled roads, rise in atmospheric temperature and indiscipline traffic have pushed the city into chaos. 
People need simple and plain roads in their localities; roads are the basic need and should not be dug repeatedly. Over the years, the housing sector growth has boosted demand for other infrastructures. Millions of people have invested their hard earned money in housing but they are the worst sufferers. They pay huge property tax which is one of the main sources of income for the state.   
In the majority of the housing societies corrupt and unscrupulous elements in the Managing Committees loot hundreds of crores of rupees from the residents’ funds.  Innocent residents find it difficult to handle the rogue MCs.  The state government should introduce strict regulation for the housing societies.  There should be a special legal cell and task force to address the residents’ complaints against financial frauds in the societies.  Similarly, builders who violate the environment rules and jeopardize the future of the city should be punished.
Instead of allowing the city to spill over to the fertile agricultural land in all directions, efforts should be made to protect the villages bordering Hyderabad which once served as the granary not only for Telangana but for all the southern states in the country.  As per the World Bank report, more than 50% people in the world do not get sufficient food to eat. The hunger and starvation across the world is increasing day by day. 
Nature has blessed Hyderabad with a huge food ring around it; the state should protect and preserve the food ring and earn huge profit by exporting food grains, vegetables and fruits to different countries.  The state should protect the rivers and water bodies which will automatically make the farmers rich; there will be no need to spend money on the social sector.  Rather the social sector will generate revenue for the state.
Instead of expanding Hyderabad in all directions, the state should now develop the neighboring towns like Medchal, Medak, Vikarabad, Siddipet, Yadadri Bhubanagiri and Jangaon etc while keeping the granary around Hyderabad intact.  In the coming years it is not the industry nor the real estate which will earn for the state, it is the fertile farmland that will give the state rich dividends.   
The state should discourage errant growth of the housing sector inside Hyderabad city as it has already distorted the city, wiped out water bodies, dried up the ground water and increased the temperature; it has made Hyderabad a harsh place to live.  The state governments should bring strict laws to prevent conversion of farm land into concrete jungle and encourage farmers not to sell their agricultural land. A large number of farmers in the Hyderabad suburb repent for selling their farmland; the majority have wasted their money and are facing difficult times.
Revival of all the lakes, hills, rock forest, grape gardens, natural springs, granaries, meadows, rivers and grassland will make the city look far more beautiful than Switzerland; it will attract a large number of foreign tourists. The income and employment in the state will grow many folds. The animal husbandry sector in Hyderabad will thrive to become a booming economic sector. 
The milk has hundreds of byproducts and the benefits will outweigh the industry and manufacturing sector. The dairy farmers face acute shortage of water, green fodder and grazing area. If this situation continues the people of Hyderabad will be deprived of quality milk and milk products; they will suffer from nutrition deficit and face health problems.  Let the Queen of Deccan regain its rich culture, past glory and prosperity.

Comments

TRENDING

Campaign group urges INDIA alliance to release Jharkhand manifesto to counter BJP’s 'divisive' agenda

By Our Representative  The Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan, an advocacy group, has issued a press release urging the INDIA alliance to release a Jharkhand-specific manifesto to counter the BJP’s "divisive" electoral agenda. With just two weeks remaining before the assembly elections, the INDIA coalition has yet to announce its plans and priorities for the state. Meanwhile, the BJP's campaign, according to the press release, is centered around communalism, divisiveness, and distraction from Jharkhand's core issues.

Tributes paid to pioneer of Naxalism in Punjab, who 'dodged' police for 60 yrs

By Harsh Thakor*  Jagjit Singh Sohal, known as Comrade Sharma, a pioneer of Naxalism in Punjab, passed away on October 20 at the age of 96. Committed to the Naxalite cause and a prominent Maoist leader, Sohal, who succeeded Charu Majumdar, played hide and seek with the police for almost six decades. He was cremated in Patiala.

Israel's 'war crime': 18,000 children died not just from bomb explosions but also starvation

By Sandeep Pandey*  Last year 6 years old Madiha was a guest during Diwali at our home in Lucknow. Listening to the sound of fire crackers bursting outside she remarked, ‘It appears as if we’re in Gaza.’ She has probably no idea of the extent of damage and loss of life that has taken place in Palestine but can relate to sound of crackers as bombs exploding over Gaza.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Will Left victory in Sri Lanka deliver economic sovereignty plan, go beyond 'tired' IMF agenda?

By Atul Chandra, Vijay Prashad*  On September 22, 2024, the Sri Lankan election authority announced that Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) alliance won the presidential election. Dissanayake, who has been the leader of the left-wing JVP since 2014, defeated 37 other candidates, including the incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party (UNP) and his closest challenger Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. 

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah  The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Will Bangladesh go Egypt way, where military ruler is in power for a decade?

By Vijay Prashad*  The day after former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka, I was on the phone with a friend who had spent some time on the streets that day. He told me about the atmosphere in Dhaka, how people with little previous political experience had joined in the large protests alongside the students—who seemed to be leading the agitation. I asked him about the political infrastructure of the students and about their political orientation. He said that the protests seemed well-organized and that the students had escalated their demands from an end to certain quotas for government jobs to an end to the government of Sheikh Hasina. Even hours before she left the country, it did not seem that this would be the outcome.

How pseudo-liberals 'went wrong' in judging DY Chandrachud as Chief Justice India

By Shamsul Islam*  DY Chandrachud took charge as Chief Justice of the Indian Supreme Court (SC) on November 09, 2022. On this occasion many of the pseudo-liberals who claimed to be defenders of the democratic-secular polity of India manifested great happiness. They declared that the time of SC being an appendage of the RSS-BJP government headed by PM Modi was over as Justice Chandrachud was a liberal judge committed to the democratic-secular polity of India. 

Why Han Kang refused to celebrate her personal accomplishment: Nobel Prize in literature

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  South Korean Nobel laureate Han Kang has declined to celebrate and refused to address a press conference after winning the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, citing the deaths, destitution, pain, and suffering of people affected by the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. As reported by the Korea Times, Han Kang’s father Han Seung a renowned Korean writer conveyed her daughter’s message that “with the war intensifying and people being carried out dead every day, how can we have a celebration or a press conference?” She said that “she won’t hold a press conference”.