Scenic Celestial Rock at Moula Ali hill to be levelled

A room is being constructed at the bottom of the rock and the hillock itself has been cut into blocks. When contacted, Mr Vishwanadham said, “In 2002, under the Urban Land Ceiling scheme as per the Government Order 456, we paid a certain amount to the government and first acquired 300 square metres. Since then the land has been untouched. In 2006, another piece of land was purchased and a total of one acre has been sanctioned to us by the government. All the required documents are available. The board has been erected after seeking permission from the zonal commissioner.”

He said the blasting was being carried out by the Metro Water Board as a water tank is being erected on the top. Suresh Kochattil of the Great Hyderabad Adventure Club said, “A large amount of land around places like Moula Ali, Ammuguda and Khajaguda, which belonged to the Wakf Board, has been systematically encroached by fudging land records. These rocks took millions of years to form and it’s sad that the government is doing nothing to protect them. Similar activities are taking place in Trimulgherry. A1 Defence land was sold as plots by the tahsildar. When the Army proved them wrong, the tahsildar was suspended. How can rocks become private property?”

No official from the Wakf Board knew what was going on. There’s only one inspector in the entire Hyderabad district who visits the properties once in eight months.

An official from the Gautamnagar division Metro Water Board said, “A elevated tank for supply distribution is being constructed on the rock and the mud road has been created for the tractor to reach on top.”