Hyderabad, September 18: The busy and lively shopping street of Sultan Bazaar, with its rich heritage structures might vanish, once the works on the Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) project begins.
And its not just Sultan Bazaar, several heritage structures like the Assembly, Mozamjahi market and Public Gardens might be in danger because of the Metro.
Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Hyderabad Chapter has been crying foul that the project would spell doom for Hyderabad’s heritage if it was implemented according to the current plan.
The Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd is going to lay three elevated lines on a stretch of 72 km. Line-I from Miyapur to LB Nagar, passing through the Assembly and Mozamjahi market; Line-II from the Jubilee Bus Station to Falaknuma and Line-III from Shilparamam to Nagole, passing through Begumpet and Parade Grounds in the next four months.
It is going to be laid at a height of 12m to 18m, at fourth to sixth floor level, as it has to pass above all existing flyovers in the city.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Shankar Narayana, INTACH member gave a demonstration on an architect view of how the city might look like once the HMR project materialises. “It’s not going to be a smooth way like the PVN Expressway as the metro will have a station for every km. People would have to climb up either using a staircase or escalator to travel by the metro,” he said.
P Anuradha Reddy, convenor of INTACH Hyderabad maintained, “In cities like Warsaw and Budapest, governments are reviving cities which were destroyed during the World War II,” she informed.
“Hyderabad has a proud heritage which was recognised as the UNESCO recently awarded the Chowmohallah Palace as a heritage structure. Development and heritage have to go hand in hand but not at the expense of the latter,” she added.
“It’s public money, public land and public life which is getting affected.
Hence, Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) Ltd should make it a public metro rail design and exhibit publicly how the city would look like after its completion,” she demanded.
INTACH was also concerned that since the metro line passes through several key areas like the Assembly and Parade Grounds, it could also pose security concerns.
“All alternatives must be explored before grounding the project so that it doesn’t disturb heritage structures. The Bangalore and Delhi metros, though largely elevated, have at least been sensible enough to go underground in core areas like the Vidhana Soudha, Rajpath and Chandni Chowk,” they averred.
–Agencies