Hyderabad 'Tank Bund' Statues ‘Veiled’ In Mystery

Wait For Right Date Delayed Statue Inauguration. The 12 new statues of Telugu icons on Tank Bund appear to have been left to the elements. After they were vandalised by Telangana activists during the Million March in March 2011, the new statues were installed in October 2012. But they remain covered in paper and cloth for last six months waiting to be inaugurated. 
    
The 12 covered statues on Tank Bund are those of Krishnadevaraya, Tripuraneni Ramaswamy Chaudary, Kandukuri Veeresalingam Pantulu, Mutnuri Krishna Rao, Raghupathi Venkataratnam Naidu, Brahmanaidu, Siddhendra Yogi, Bellary Raghava, Erra Pragada, Sir Arthur Cotton, Gurajada Apparao and Annamayya. 
    
For some strange reason, there appears to be no initiative on the part of the state government to unveil the statues and even those who caused an uproar when the statues were vandalised appear to have forgotten the issue. It was initially said that the statues would be unveiled before the world biodiversity conference in October last year. However, nothing happened. Later, it was stated that CM Kiran Kumar Reddy would inaugurate the statues on the occasion of the AP Formation Day on November 1, 2012. That too did not take place. 
    
“We do not know the exact reason for the delay in the inauguration of the statues. Keeping in view the CoP-11 meet, the government asked us to complete the reinstallation of the statues and we did it accordingly. Till date, we have not received any communication from the chief minister’s office as to when they would be inaugurated,” director, department of culture, R V Prasada Raju told TOI. 
    
In fact, several other important dates have gone by, including the World Telugu Conference in December, but the state did not utilize the opportunity. “It is clear that the Kiran Kumar regime is not interested in unveiling the statues,” said an official. The latest date that is being talked about is Ugadi, which falls on April 11. K V Ramanachary, state culture advisor, told TOI that he had met the CM three days ago and the statues are likely to be inaugurated very soon. Although poets and literary organisations have not protested the delay, officials said they have received thousands of oral pleas about the apathy of the state government in restoring the Telugu icons statues to their rightful place. 
    
A total of 33 statues were installed almost two decades ago on Tank Bund by the N T Rama Rao government and 17 of these were vandalized during the Million March on March 10, 2011. A sculptor from West Godavari district has created the 11 new statues of the Telugu icons that were completely destroyed. A new statue of Komaram Bheem was also installed. “The state spent Rs 48 lakh on the new statues. The department also gave a facelift to 10 other statues which were partially desecrated. The height of all the 12 statues is nine-feet,” said director Kavitha Prasad.