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

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor*  This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu.  He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat*  As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra*   It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...

Women's rights leaders told to negotiate with Muslimness, as India's donor agencies shun the word Muslim

By A Representative Former vice-president Hamid Ansari has sharply criticized donor agencies engaged in nongovernmental development work, saying that they seek to "help out" marginalizes communities with their funds, but shy away from naming Muslims as the target group, something, he insisted, needs to change. Speaking at a book release function in Delhi, he said, since large sections of Muslims are poor, they need political as also social outreach.

Sardar Patel was on Nathuram Godse's hit list: Noted Marathi writer Sadanand More

Sadanand More (right) By  A  Representative In a surprise revelation, well-known Gujarati journalist Hari Desai has claimed that Nathuram Godse did not just kill Mahatma Gandhi, but also intended to kill Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Citing a voluminous book authored by Sadanand More, “Lokmanya to Mahatma”, Volume II, translated from Marathi into English last year, Desai says, nowadays, there is a lot of talk about conspiracy to kill Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, but little is known about how the Sardar was also targeted.

Bihar’s land at ₹1 per acre for Adani sparks outrage, NAPM calls it crony capitalism

By A Representative   The National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) has strongly condemned the Bihar government’s decision to lease 1,050 acres of land in Pirpainti, Bhagalpur district, to Adani Power for a 2,400 MW coal-based thermal power project.