Hyderabad: A research paper submitted a couple of years ago by a lecturer from the San Jose University had suggested that development work along NH-9 would be detrimental to the archaeological heritage of the stretch.
Robert A. Simpkins had compiled a report: ‘Cultural Heritage Resources Adjacent to National Highway 9 between Hyderabad and Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh’.
It had stated: “Remains significant to AP’s cultural heritage remain unprotected and often undocumented, and deserve greater documentation and preservation”.
Heritage conservationists aren’t hopeful of much change in the current scenario as long as the allocations for renovations and maintenance remain low.
“We should give the onus of maintenance to someone like the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. Look at the restoration works at the Qutub Shahi premises and compare it with any work taken up by the state department of archaeology and museums. If it is not possible to replicate such perfection. we should at least put up some of these monuments for adoption,” said historian Mohammed Safiullah of the Deccan Heritage Trust, an expert in the history of the Qutub Shahi and the Asaf Jahi dynasties.
