I live in Hyderabad ,the capital of Andhra Pradesh , India . We moved in to this city way back in 1995 and has witnessed the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad transform from a laid back culture to a ” no nonsense ” business and IT savvy city with a vibrant and cosmopolitan culture , the envy of the other state capitals of India. I also understand in a global survey of cities across the world by New York Times , Hyderabad came 41st in rank with no other city in India making the grade in the list !!
But , to the inhabitants of the twin cities , a major irritant next only to the traffic voes is the constant act of digging one witness on the roads or on public property , the most recent one for a treasure hunt in the under belly of the hill where the Birla Mandir is located . Ten years back , it was for laying fiber optics cables , then the water and sewage board took over to repair the lines damaged by the telecom people . Thereafter , fresh digging started for bringing water from Krishna river to the city . Very recently , the Telecom people of BSNL started digging to replace the old coaxial cables .
The Metro Rail authorities have only started soil testing as of now . One shudders to think what will happen when they start the main work . I saw what happened in Calcutta , Delhi and recently in Bangalore when the city was dug up completely to facilitate laying railway lines and other amenities for the Metro .
May be there is a silver lining possible in this digging venture , if all prospective sites for the ” treasure hunt ” of the Qutub Shahi and Asaf Jahi period can be undertaken by the State Archeological Department . At least , this can generate large scale employment !!