The Archaeological department officials headed by the director Chenna Reddy launched the treasure hunt on Sunday morning in the premises of a private school opposite the State Secretariat in Hyderabad, after a group of nine people including an official of Coal India Limited, Rama Raju, made a representation that treasure worth `20,000 crore was hidden there.

They filed a written affidavit saying that four members of the group had personally seen the tunnel with an iron gate  inside the school compound, adjoining the famous Naubat Pahad hillock.

The Vidyaranya School is the property of the family of Wanaparthy Samsthan, an erstwhile feudacracy. The building, earlier known as Green Gates, was home to Raja Rameshwara Rao-III, the last head of the Wanaparthy Samsthan.

The group apparently based its representation on the rumours reportedly sparked by a mason Mallesh who claimed to have seen the tunnel and a treasure trove four years ago during construction of a wall of an adjoining hotel.

Mallesh said that he gone up to the iron gate of the tunnel and saw two cupboards full of jewellery and other valuables but kept quiet fearing for his life.

Chenna Reddy justified the undertaking of excavation work using a JCB machine in the bottom of a hillock saying, “After we received the representation, it is our duty to ascertain the facts and verify the claims,” he said.

He said that many buildings in the area had such tunnels and one such tunnel was also found last year in Home Sciences College, Saifabad. But the reports of the presence of a treasure trove there also turned out false.

However the failure of the informants in correctly pointing out the spot of the tunnel has left the officials confused. After uprooting an old tree and digging the earth at one place, they moved to another indicating that they did not have any clear idea about the location of the reported tunnel.

The Minister for Archaeology V Vasantha Kumar also visited the scene of the excavation in the morning, indicating the Government’s interest in the matter. In view of the growing doubts, they decided to stop the excavation at 3 pm. Meanwhile some officials from NMDC visited the spot in the afternoon and promised to provide geological sensor and other equipment to help the search for the tunnel and treasure trove.

However, many archaeological experts and conservationists have expressed scepticism and doubts on the claims of treasure troves. The family, which owns the property also strongly criticised the Archaeology department for barging into the school and launching the excavation work with out any permission.

The objective of the drive is to infuse life into the ward committees and area sabhas by enabling better citizen participation and decentralising power.

The organisers of the drive said they would meet religious leaders of various faiths and convince them to speak at mosques, temples, gurudwaras and churches about the role of citizens in governance.

Traffic restrictions have also been imposed between 7 am to 11 am on some roads in Secunderabad on January 26. The SP Road stretch between CTO and YMCA Crossroads would be one-way. Cars having valid passes would be allowed from CTO Junction to YMCA before the Parade commences and in the reverse direction towards CTO Junction after the event. The road from Cantonment Garden to SBH Crossroads would be closed during the parade. Vehicles moving from Begumpet would be diverted underneath the CTO flyover towards Paradise or Balamrai.

Traffic from St John’s Rotary would be diverted underneath the YMCA flyover towards Upakar Crossroads or Clock Tower. Vehicles moving from Secunderabad Club ingate to SBH X Roads would be diverted towards YMCA Crossroad or Tivoli X road. Traffic from Secunderabad Club would be diverted towards Brook Bond Crossroad or Upakar Crossroads.

The 18-hole course was taken up with due care with all required permissions and executed under the direct supervision of a committee comprising Hyderabad district Collector, AP Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) Managing Director and Superintending Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India.

“The project is strictly in accordance with the orders of the High Court. We are not interested in taking over anyone’s land, defile graves or damage the historical site. We respect sentiments and every step of the project follows due process and strictly in keeping with guidelines,” said HGA captain Asadulla Pasha.

Garbage dump

The Jamalikunta area which was a garbage dump for years was reclaimed and grassed. The golf fairways have enhanced the beauty of the place and saved the land from possible encroachments to serve as lung space, he said.

Mr. Pasha said that some activists tried to disrupt the joint survey taken up by the Wakf Board, ASI and Revenue authorities recently and were detained by the police. “We are not involved in any way in that development,” he said.

He also rebutted the claim of activists that heavy machinery was used and massive excavation taken up and said that there was no excavation involved as golf course is built on natural contours.

Sewerage treatment

An eco-friendly sewerage treatment plant of one MLD capacity has been set up by the HGA, he said in response to charges that lakes were being emptied.

C. Dayakar Reddy, HGA honorary joint secretary, said those opposed to the project were misrepresenting and distorting issues related to the golf course.

“We have approached these groups to dispel their apprehensions if any, but they refuse to respond,” he said.

Rs.150 per round

The golf course was open for general public and anyone can pay a small fee of Rs.150 to play a round, which is cheapest compared to Rs.3, 000 to Rs.6, 000 charged by some others, he said.

Other HGA office-bearers, including president J. Vikramdev Rao, honorary secretary B.L.K. Reddy and treasurer B.V.K. Raju were also present.

The Hyderabad Public School wore a festive look at its alumni dinner reunion organized by the Jagirdars College & The Hyderabad Public School Old Students Association on Monday night. Most of the students from the 90s batch were present and top-cop CV Anand, who belongs to the 1986 batch, was seen enjoying his batch’s silver jubilee celebrations.

The present class XI students moved the ex-students to tears with their moving yet entertaining skit that enacted how students mocked teachers who taught in the 90s. Singer Jason Trevor’s performance drew many admirers. But the highlight of the night was the much-loved school food. Former students ate their hearts out and bonded with each other as they cherished the school’s famed chicken
curry, cutlets and other
delicacies.

The cops are apprehensive that by the time the New Year is rung in, another equal amount of the drug would have contributed to the high of the revellers.

Police suspect that apart from Vikram Malhotra, an event manager who was arrested recently for possessing cocaine, there are several other operators in the city who are in the process of procuring drugs for the New Year celebrations.

Yet another drug peddler, Shaik Jaweed, was nabbed by police on Tuesday. Party goers, especially those going for rave parties in farmhouses, have been in touch with drug peddlers, the police say.

In fact, according to the police, drug peddlers in the city have been in touch with their Mumbai counterparts for the last few months for procuring cocaine for New Year party goers. The police assumption finds corroboration in Malhotra’s confession. “I met Basheer alias Michael, a Uganda national, in a party at a pub in Mumbai and we exchanged phone numbers and we had been in touch for the last few months,” said Malhotra in his confession to the police. According to sources, several drug peddlers including Basheer have been busy sneaking into the city cocaine with a view to making quick money during the New Year by activating their network much on time. The network includes George Peter, who was arrested along with Malhotra. George Peter is an agent of Basheer and, in his confession to the police, said that it was two months ago that Basheer informed him that cocaine had to be delivered to Malhotra. “Basheer came to my house in Sainikpuri and gave me 15 grams of cocaine and told me to sell it at Rs 3,500 per gram,” Peter said.

According to officials, pubs are the meeting points for drug peddlers and its customers to clinch their future deals besides developing rapport. Since 2010 George Peter has been staying in India without a valid passport and has been part of the drug network. He came to India in early 2000 on a student visa and pursued several courses.

Basheer had been a resident of Hyderabad till about six months ago but later moved his base to Mumbai to pursue IT-related courses.

Around 28.75 lakh road users have violated traffic rules this year. In 2010, the police collected Rs 24 crore from traffic violators in Hyderabad.

Additional commissioner of police C.V. Anand said, “We are trying to stress on all aspects of enforcement, including drunk driving. The fine amount collected from drunken drivers has doubled.”

The number of illegally parked vehicles has come down as against previous years. Cops are using cameras, and speed laser guns to catch violators apart from manual enforcement.

Meanwhile, 171 drunken drivers were arrested in just two days (December 9 and 10) and the vehicles were detained. Of these, 66 were four-wheelers, 99 were two-wheelers and there were six autorickshaws.

The cops had concentrated on the areas near various clubs in the city. The police said many VVIPs were also fined, but did not disclose the names. “We conducted special drives on December 9 and 10 at various places in the twin cities between 10 pm and 1 am. A total of 171 drunken drivers were arrested and their vehicles were detained,” said a police source.

“We focused on various clubs, both registered and non-registered, which are encouraging gambling and where a lot of people go to consume alcohol,” the source added.

On December 12, the drivers were produced before the magistrate court in Nampally and they were fine up to Rs 2,500 and their driving licences were suspended for three months.

Reddy will, however, continue as caretaker mayor until her resignation is accepted by the council and a new mayor takes her place.

The Special GHMC Council will meet on December 17 to accept her resignation.

The stepping down of Karthika Reddy will pave the way for transfer of power from the Congress to Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM). As per an agreement reached between the two parties in 2009, a Congress cominee will hold the office of mayor and an MIM’s that of deputy mayor for the first two years.

While an MIM corporator will be the mayor for the next two years, a Congress corporator will be the deputy for the next two years.

The Congress will get the mayoral post again in the final year of the five-year term.

Deputy mayor Jaffer Hussain (MIM) will submit his resignation a day before the Special GHMC Council’s meeting to stand in mayoral election.

State Congress president Botcha Satyanarayana held a meeting with city ministers Mukesh Goud and Danam Nagender on Sunday and followed it up with another meeting with two other ministers J Geeta Reddy and Sabita Indra Reddy in the evening to discuss the matter.

Karthika Reddy was summoned and told to resign to honour the party’s agreement with its ally.

In a statement issued to the AP Pollution Control Board and the Buddha Purnima Project Authority couple of days before the 10K Run, Sport 18 had assured that there would be sufficient number of dustbins in place for the event held on Sunday, as it was too late to withdraw the plastic bottles to be provided for the event.

It had also assured that from the following year, the Run would go greener and that plastic bottles would be avoided. On the other hand,  it had assured that adequate dustbins would be provided this year to dump trash. But that was not the case. There were only about 100 dustbins in place of the promised 500 at the venue.

“One of the sponsors Oxygen, was providing mineral water bottles free of cost to everyone present at the venue. What was the need to distribute bottles to family members of the participants free of cost? Many had thrown half-empty bottles all around People’s Plaza. People who are not participating also gather at the venue and these are ones who create a mess. They had even thrown bottles into the lake,” said Mahender of Carbon Credit Race, one of the campaigners against the plastic used during the event.

About 30,000 people participated in the run and by the end of the day, the number of bottles strewn around were more than the number of participants. Not only bottles, but few private players also distributed T-shirts to the participants. There were 20 promotional stalls set up at People’s Plaza for the purpose. Empty covers were also lying around the place.

Mahender says the campaigners including NGOs such as the Save Our Urban Lakes (SOUL) had approached Sport 18 three weeks prior to the event. “They could have taken measures if they had planned it right,” he said. The campaigners, Carbon Credit Race and about 800 college students had made arrangements for drinking water to the participants. They had arranged for the supply of 8000 litres of water in paper cups. however, they hope that their efforts would bring results at least next year during the 10 K Run.

Meanwhile, the APPCB and BPPA have decided to take action against the organisers if they do not comply with environmental-friendly measures. Sport 18 was not available to comment.