Film Nagar Cultural Club At Thotlakonda Met With Dissent

The Film Nagar Cultural Centre to be put up at 15 acres of land near Thotlakonda is being met with dissent from conservation activists and Buddhists. They believe that the monument dating to third century BC should not undergo commercialisation of such sort. Conservation activists believe the Film Nagar Cultural Centre plan should be chucked as the area is archaeologically sensitive. The Joint Action Committee (JAC) leaders of various Buddhist organisations who fall under the Buddhist Monuments’ Protection Committee staged a protest yesterday opposing the Centre.

They raised the question as to how the government and HRD minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao could allocate land at an area of archaeological and Buddhist importance. The allotment of land atop Thotlakonda is damaging the sentiments of Buddist monks, especially because even today; the site has many researchers visiting it.

Reportedly, former Union Energy Secretary and conservation activist EAS Sarma wrote a letter to the Director – General of Archaeological Survey of India that Thotlakonda was a notified archaeological site of importance and demanded that the construction not take place.

The government has allocated 15 acres of land for the Centre and the foundation stone was recently laid.