Hyderabad: When modernisation affects heritage

Hyderabad: The historical road which connects Secunderabad with Hyderabad has been badly damaged due to the construction for the Metro Rail project. Famously called Route No 1, which passes through the heart of the city and connects Secunderabad railway station and MGBS, the road has dozens of craters, potholes and severe road damage which cause frequent traffic snarls. 

The road has been ignored by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and the Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited authorities. Even though the condition of the road has deteriorated over the past few months, civic body officials have said that the corporation would not repair it until the construction for the Metro Rail was completed.

Mr Syed Mohammed Anser, a motorist, said, “I have never seen this road is such a bad condition since my childhood. Although there were a few potholes near the Golconda crossroads, the rest of the road was maintained well from Secunderabad station to Imliban. Of late, due to the Metro construction, the entire road has been damaged.”

Echoing his concern, Mr Jaya Prakash, a resident of Musheerabad, said it had become extremely difficult to drive on the severely damaged roads which had been narrowed down due to the Metro Rail work. “The road damages are very severe near the place opposite Saptagiri theatre, RTC crossroads and Chikkadpally. The once wide road has become extremely narrow and dust from the badly damaged portions causes further inconvenience,” he said. 

Mr Prakash said, sewerage leakages specifically at Golconda crossroads had become a nightmare for the commuters. He said that the road was deteriorating every passing day and neither the civic body nor the metro rail authorities were responding to requests to repair the severely damaged road.

Since the Metro Rail construction was going on the entire road maintenance from Secunderabad Railway Station to MGBS had been handed over to the HMRL, said chief engineer (maintenance) Mohammed Ziauddin. The corporation would assume charge of its maintenance only after the completion of the metro rail construction.

HMRL managing director N.V.S. Reddy said that the issue had come to his notice and the agency had fixed the road at several stretches. Mr Reddy said that the road had been damaged due to sewerage leakages and added that the HMRL had also laid cement concrete roads at a few stretches.

He assured that HMRL would address all the grievances if brought to its notice. When asked about the completion of the project on the Secunderabad-MGBS stretch, he said that it would be completed by May next year.

When contacted, the water board officials were unavailable for comment.