Hyderabad, Nov.8 (NSS): Commemorating the World Town Planning Day on Friday, the Telangana Regional Chapter of the Institute of Town Planners is conducted a Heritage Walk in the Musi River Heritage Zone, for members of ITPI TRC. S. Devender Reddy, Director of Town and Country Planning, & Chairman of ITPI TRC, K. Srinivas, Chief City Planner, GHMC & K Vidyadhar, Director, Planning, HMDA, and other dignitaries were present.
World Town Planning Day is celebrated on November 8, every year across the world. Argentinian professor Carlos María Della Paolera, a graduate at the Institute ‘urbanism in Paris, started World Town Planning Day in Buenos Aires in 1949. It is a special day to recognize and promote the role of planners and planning in creating healthy, prosperous cities and communities. The Institute of Town Planners, India, was established in 1951 with HQs in New Delhi with late M. Fayazuddin as first President. Today, the Institute has a membership of over 6500 across the country. The Telangana Regional Chapter regularly organises workshops, training sessions, students’ competitions, events and so on that help professional development and raise awareness in the society.
Musi River has been an integral part of historical growth of Hyderabad city since more than 800 years. From Golconda Fort built on its banks in the west, the foundations of Haiderabad were laid in 1591 on south of the river, building the Purana Pul. The river witnessed the heights of the Qutb Shahi and Asaf Jahi kingdoms and the British Residency between 16-19th Centuries till 1908 floods changed its face and path, yet another glorious high and a fall reducing Musi to a Gandha nala in the perceptions of our own Hyderabadis.
In support of the plans announced by the State Government to revitalise Musi River to its past glory and to contribute our expertise as Planning professionals to the Government’s initiative, the ITPI-TRC members will visit the grand historical buildings and bridges along the Musi River in Heritage Zone between Purana Pul and Chaderghat bridge, understanding the city’s interaction with the River, the nature-culture, place-people connections and discussing river and heritage conservation, planning, development, infrastructure, and revitalisation. The Musi River Heritage Walk is coordinated by Dr Vasanta Sobha Turaga and her team.
