The Hindu : Body blow to heritage marvel

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 21, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh-Hyderabad

Body blow to heritage marvel

By K. Venkateshwarlu

HYDERABAD May 20. The timing of the merciless demolition would not have been more inopportune and ironical. Just as the Hyderabad Chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) was toasting the eighth annual edition of its prestigious award ceremony at Taj Banjara, hi-tech contraptions were busy drilling holes into "Kohinoor'', the corporate GVK House, a stone's throw away on Banjara Hills Road No 1.

Arguably a "Kohinoor'' among the heritage buildings dotting the city landscape, particularly Banjara Hills, it had won the INTACH heritage award in 2001. Quite ironically the old building, now the corporate office of the GVK group, was shortlisted for the award, in appreciation of the "adaptive reuse of built heritage....and conscientious effort made by the present owners to conserve and maintain the building excellently, retaining the original lines.''

Leave the lines, the building itself may disappear from the heritage landmarks map, in the next few days, going by the speed with which it is being pulled down, the shining golden plaque given by INTACH, reduced to a mute witness. Enquiries revealed that a huge ultra modern shopping mall, "redefining the shopping experience'' is going to come up on the debris of "Kohinoor''. It includes a multiplex, hypermarket, departmental store, entertainment zone and food court.

When it happens in the next two years, it is going to leave the INTACH and heritage activists, red faced and the original owners, thoroughly disappointed. For here was a unique "German Design'' building chosen for its importance and excellent conservation, being reduced to a rubble. Secondly, the present owners have hosted the awards event just the other day, at one of their group hotels, Taj Banjara. Quite oblivious to the demolition in progress, the group came in for lavish praise for its support to the cause of preserving built heritage. Some of them informally described the help as an example of corporate support!

Constructed by Sakina Begum Rahmatulla of the Bilgrami family in 1939, "Kohinoor'', as it was originally named, was treated as an outstanding example of a style that locally became popular as "German Design''. One of the several buildings in the city designed by German and Polish architects in 1930s, the architectural style was contemporary in Europe at that time.

The sweeping lines, absence of sharp angles and the use of abstract designs for railings and openings, set a trend which had a great impact on later architects of the city. They continued to pattern their creations on the lines of the "German Design'', for almost the next half of a century.

The demolition brings into focus the technical flaws in the listing of heritage buildings for protection and lack of link between listing and awards given by the INTACH. For years the heritage list got stuck at 138 buildings and 16 precincts. If "Kohinoor'' was listed, the owners would not have dared to touch it, for the heritage regulation clearly specifies that they cannot tinker with it. Conversely, if a method is evolved wherein all the award winning buildings are included in the list of protected built heritage, the tragedy that befell "Kohinoor'' could have been averted.

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