Restored 19th-century Ramgopalpet Police Station building handed back to police by HMDA after heritage makeover.
Hyderabad: The HMDA) has handed over the restored heritage building on MG Road in Secunderabad to the Ramgopalpet police.
In 2016, the GHMC asked the police personnel working in the heritage structure to vacate the building as it was unsafe, and they were shifted to a nearby location. The HMDA took up the restoration in 2023.
The task of restoration and conservation was given to Deccan Terrain Heritage, which restored based on a detailed restoration plan prepared by Kshetra Consultants.
The restoration and conservation involved the removal of deteriorated lime plaster, plastering of weak walls, replacement of damaged wood, and repairs to wooden barracks, as well as restoration of the clock structure and roof. The brass bell, which was brought to the ground floor due to its heavy weight, has been placed in a display case.
G.S.V. Suryanarayana, a conservation architect at Kshetra Consultants, said, “We have prepared the restoration plan, and the composition used for restoration was tested by the Vellore Institute of Technology Laboratory.” The work was monitored by the Kshetra team and was implemented by Mir Khan of Deccan Terrain Heritage.
He said the structure is believed to have been built in the 1870s in the Palladian architectural style. James Street in Secunderabad was named after James Achilles Kirkpatrick, the third British Resident in Hyderabad. James Street was later renamed Mahatma Gandhi Road after India’s Independence.
The clock in the structure was donated in the early 1900s by Dewan Bahadur Seth Ramgopal to the then James Street Police Station, which was subsequently renamed Ramgopalpet Police Station. The building was designated as a heritage structure by the state government in 1998.
According to Ramgopalpet inspector Narsingh Rao, as the property belongs to the police department, it has been handed back to them. Since the structure is located on the main road and causes parking issues, he said the matter has been brought to the attention of higher officials. “The building may be used for cybercrime investigations or other police-related purposes,” he explained.
