Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) authorities are facing a daunting task in cleaning up and removal of around 8000 tonnes of garbage and debris in Golconda Fort that has piled up over the last decade. Even more difficult is cutting and cleaning trees and shrubbery off the fort walls and structures.
In order to secure the elusive UNESCO World Heritage tag, and in anticipation of the UNESCO team visiting the fort, officials are working on a war footing to clean the fort. They are also trying to divert the sewage that is flowing into the fort from nearby houses. While area within the inner fortification wall is relatively clean, the outer fortification wall with several Darwazas and other areas is posing the bigger challenge.
Speaking about the operation, additional commissioner of GHMC Musharraf Faruqui told #KhabarLive that “We have deployed four batches of earth movers and required staffers and the cleaning is under progress. The garbage not been cleaned up for the past eight to 10 years.
Many of the parts of the fort are still inaccessible.” Musharraf added, “we have removed 400 tonnes of debris and garbage and our rough estimate is that in all, it would be 20 times more, thus adding up to a total of around 8000 tonnes of garbage. There are trenches which are like wetlands filled with slush. It is quite a challenge to clean up these trenches.”
He added, ”Removing branches and trees without damaging the structures is another big task. We have to be very careful while removing the trees. The stones are not stable. Inaccessibility, height and delicacy are the three issues we are facing.”
Arecholgocial Survey of India officials said that apart from 55 acres of inner fort area, cleaning has to be taken up at structures like Naya Quila, Katora Houz, Fathe Darwaza, Moti Darwaza, Banjara Darwaza, and Attara Sidi. Dr Milan Kumar Chauley, superintendent archaeology, ASI, Hyderabad, said, “it will be a big task to lay a 6km pipeline for supplying water again using the hose that has been cut off.” #KhabarLive